Dominance
by Anurila
Summary: After all, he was damn miles above her in the evolutionary trend. So it should have been easy, painless even, to get her to submit to him. -The constant fight between Neuro and Yako in their relationship,him for dominance,her for equality.-
1. His Circumstance

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro. No profit has been earned off of this story. The story and the anime all belong to the talented mangaka Matsuei Yuusei.

Hi there dear readers, you might have seen me lurking around in the MTNN category posting numerous review in numerous stories. I've been so impressed with a number of fanfics in this series that I was inspired to write one of my own. The thought to create a fanfic was a bit daunting at first. I've never attempted to write a fanfiction before despite my love for them. My expectations for fanfictions, like any other published works, are high. However, to find that level of expertise in myself... i had my doubts. Nevertheless, I've came out of my shell. My love for this series is unparalleled. I thank whatever creative juices that flow inside Matsuei Yuusei's head to have blessed us with such a wonderful story. Anyhow, enjoy my first attempt at fanfiction. Please read and review. Criticisms are accepted, mindless flaming however is not. Thank you!

* * *

It's been a while now since Nougami Neuro has started working with Yako as his cover up in the human world. However, the infuriating amoeba seemed to refuse any advances of his power and claim over her.

No matter what tactics he used to corner her, the wood louse always managed to weasel her way out of becoming his property. She may let him casually tease and torture her all day long while she was at the office, but she stubbornly refuses to submit and yield to him completely. While he can make her cry out in pain and force her to do most of what he wishes her to do, he could not, however, exercise complete claim over her.

That is what irks the demon spawn the most. He hates it when things don't go his way. He hates it more when he is denied things that he wanted and had a right to (at least in his mind). After all, he was damn miles above her in the evolutionary trend. So it should have been easy, painless even, to get her to submit to him- heart and soul, mind and body.

By any means, Yako wasn't the first thing that he wanted to have complete possession of nor was she the last. However, she was quickly becoming the most difficult item to attain. Even the gathering of the 777 demonic tools he used wasn't nearly as frustrating as his present conquest in progress. In one of his rarer moments of frustration, Neuro had fancied that if he could evaluate his pursuit for compete dominance over Yako to his pursuit for the ultimate mystery on levels of edibility and flavour, the conquest of Yako just might top the ultimate mystery. In fact, Neuro would go as far as to say that the search for the ultimate mystery could be considered a breeze compared to the perplexity his little slave presents. Mysteries only need logic, intellect and a good set of instincts to solve. Sadly, the same can't be applied to the maggot.

Never before in all his demonic glory, had Neuro failed in so many attempts (or failed at all) in acquiring what his mind desires. Although the reasons for his minor – keyword: minor- obsession was not clear to him, Neuro did not let his lack of rationale daunt him in the slightest. He just waved the impulse off as a necessary and given component for a proper and healthy slave and master relationship.

He had utilized every single method his brilliant mind could think of to convince his little pet to surrender herself to him. Pain was the obvious first choice for him as it was as amusing and satisfying to use as it was to watch Yako's little outbursts in response to his abuse. When that hadn't worked due to the wood louse's surprisingly high tolerance to torture, he had uttered little threats here and there to frighten her into submission. However, that method too went down the drain as the maggot demonstrated a strong resistance to his idle menaces (not that she didn't act most favorably whenever he decided to whip one out on her out of the blue.) As a result, he now resorts to trickery and manipulation. Constructing little schemes and plots to effectively trap and corner Yako had quickly become a fond hobby of his. Disregarding the fact that none of his plans had actually succeeded to provide him with the desired response from Yako (which was to have her kneeling and groveling at his feet with complete servility), the amount of stress and distress his little games caused her served to amuse him to no end.

Nevertheless, the demon remained slightly peeved that he had to apply even a fraction of his genius to outwit his slave.

In addition to his little tricks, Neuro takes advantage of every single miserable event that occurs in the slug's life to ultimately coerce her into bending to his will. Despite Yako's determination to never rely on others for help, sometimes her resolve would weaken when faced with a difficult task that was truly beyond her capability. It was in those moments of weakness that Neuro's probability of capturing her was the highest. In the end, she would always wander back to him for assistance no matter how many others she had asked. It certainly wasn't by chance that Yako's predicament was always the same; Neuro made sure of that. - No one could spare the time or energy to aid her, effectively leaving her to turn to her evil stalker boss as a last resort. He would be a fool to let golden chances like that pass him by.

It was only proper to require some sort of payment when asked to assist others-even for humans. He knew that Yako could not refuse his requests if she wanted/needed his help badly enough because of her strong sense of morality and justice. Therefore, he would go out of his humble way to make sure that her situation was indeed very bad. Everytime, his only demand was to have her completely surrender her human rights to him as well as her dignity as a human being (the latter being solely for his amusement).

There was that one time when Yako's exam time rolled around. He was well aware of her situation before she was. Neuro took extra care to ensure she was fully occupied with hunting down mysteries and acting as his cover up, so occupied that she couldn't even think about school until the week before her first exam started.

Just as he had predicted, she came rushing to him in a state of panic. When she had adamantly refused to lick his shoe-the greatest symbol of submission since ancient times- he had taken the liberty to make her situation all the more unbearable by sending a demonic tool to further stimulate her teacher's brain into making a grueling test.

His second course of action was mainly spurned by his desire to punish her more than anything else. How dare she refuse what he asked of her and offered her. So even when she squealed that she would consider licking his shoe just to appease him at the realization of his plans, he had turned a deaf ear to her pleas. Moreover, he could request more from her in that situation since she would require more of his assistance. Either way, it was a win-win situation for him.

Unfortunately for him, he did not take into account the fact that the measly human brain could not take the weight of his fine demonic tools effect. Ironically, Neuro managed to buy Yako more time as her teacher was sent off to the hospital in critical condition.

He was a slightly put down over his miscalculation but his efforts weren't for naught. Although he uses the excuse of "Yako's evolution to something more useful" to justify all his torture, he was truly impressed with Yako's determination and resilience to do everything by herself till the very end. At the end of the day, Yako had evolved, even if it was only by a bit.

Neuro was not one to cry over spilled milk, as the human saying goes. He made best of the situation and patiently waited for the next misfortune to befall on the slug. With the wood louse's desperately lacking intelligence, it wouldn't be long before trouble came knocking at her door due to her stupidity. Or if he was forced to wait too long, he would simply create trouble for her himself.

His next chance presented itself during the HAL incident. With HAL isolating himself in the middle of Tokyo Strait on a nuclear warship, Neuro had no choice but to buy a helicopter to reach HAL's fortress. Of course, Neuro could have used one of his demonic tools to save money but he wasn't that petty nor was he willing to expend what little demonic power he had left on transportation. Besides, it was the perfect opportunity to make Yako's life living hell.

He had taken ridiculous loans under her name for the helicopter forcing her to pay everything back by herself. He had made it so that even with the earnings that the two had gained from solving the HAL incident, it was impossible for Yako to return all of the fees before the deadline. She, being the predictable dishrag that she is, had come to him to ask for extra funds. He had given her the amount of money she needed with no fuss. So relieved she was that she hadn't even found his lack of opposition the least bit suspicious.

He would have to teach her to look ahead so as to plan wisely versus only having the present state in mind. On the other hand, he was pleased that she had stumbled so blindly into his trap.

The very next day Neuro handed her a 'love letter'detailing the outstanding fines that she owed him. In the demon world, the rates were as illegal as they were high. So of course, he had played by his own rules and made the interest rate so high that Yako would have to pay 1000 times the amount that she borrowed from him. Neuro was certain that Yako wouldn't be able to retaliate then. She had neither the resources nor the time to cough up 5 million yen in such a short amount of time. What's more was that he had forced her to sign a contract beforehand when she had borrowed money from him. The penalty for not paying the fine was the surrender of all dignity and human rights that Yako possessed to Neuro. (He had taken care to write that penalty microscopically small so that Yako would be sure to overlook it). There was absolutely no room for her to escape her predicament this time-or so he thought. He was practically oozing smugness from every pore of his body at his success when the little dishrag had the nerve to rain down on his party.

Yako refused to comply. Instead, she was all the more determined to rebel against him.

She swore that she could return the money somehow if given just a little time. With her rather heated outburst, she had then stomped out of the office, promptly slamming the door after her. What a frustrating yet intriguing spitfire his wood louse had become.

Neuro wasn't particularly worried about her bold statement. Even by the off chance that Yako did find a way to finance her way out of her contract, he still had many tricks up his sleeve. He could afford the wait. After all, he had all the time in the world to make her his. Eventually, Yako would burn out from exhaustion or stress, whichever one came first. He just needed to be at the scene when it happens to claim her.

Plans settled, the demon sauntered leisurely over to his desk. All he had to do now was to wait for the dishrag to return, either to admit defeat or evolve.

As Neuro sat in his chair, quietly mulling over his thoughts, he could not help but let his mind stray to his vexing little charge. He supposed that his decision to conquer Yako wasn't so mindless as it had first seemed. She never failed to amuse or perplex him with her stubborn nature and mental retardation. In a very, very private corner in his mind, Neuro could admit to himself that he somewhat admired Yako for understanding human psychology on such a thorough and deep level. Her skill was something that Neuro would never be able to attain no matter how many years he wasted on the surface. Without a doubt, her ability to comprehend the intricacies of a human's mind made her a valuable asset. Her talent made it all the easier for him to feast on the delectable mysteries that exist on this world. More importantly, he mused, her unquenchable desire to prove her own worth to herself and him was compelling to say the least. It was because of this burning desire of hers that he had been so unsuccessful with his attempts. Slowly, unbeknownst to her, she was becoming one of the real challenges that Neuro had had in a long time. Neuro wasn't one to be afraid of a challenge. He would confront it without hesitation and proceed to vanquish it in all due time. If anything, Yako provides him with endless entertainment. Even in hell he had not found such an intriguing creature. His persistence in gaining complete control over Yako made sense to him now.

Rather than having her wander off out of his sight and control after they have found the ultimate mystery, he would much rather have her by his side to entertain him. The only way to bind her to him forever was to have her acknowledge herself as his property. A very annoying law of the daemon world it is. Demons like himself, cannot claim humans as they like. Without the consent of humans, demons can not assert complete control over the beings. Neuro was certain that the law was just some bullcrap made up by the elders to preserve the so called 'harmony' between the two worlds. If it wasn't for the penance of hell that came with breaking any regulations involved with the surface world, Neuro would have long ago taken Yako by force.

Back in hell, he could acquire almost whatever his mind desires without so much as a thought. Whether the objects in question were tools or other lowly demons, they were all his for the taking since he was the stronger opponent. No creature or thing dared to oppose his wishes.

To have finally encountered an individual who had the gall to not only deny him, but to deny him constantly was new and tantalizing at the same time. Neuro supposed that Yako might be worth the chase that she had so thoughtlessly laid out for him. Yes, he supposed she was.

Knowing that Yako's stubbornness could take up to a few hours to wear off, Neuro decided to take a little nap. He will definitely capture her; patience is the key. With that thought left on his mind, the demon slowly nodded off.

* * *

Whewf, hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. I'm not sure if I should continue this fic as opposed to making this a oneshot. Please give me feedback or even suggestions on how you wish this story to progress. Comments are much loved.


	2. Her Circumstance

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro. No profit has been earned off of this story. The story and the anime all belong to the talented mangaka Matsuei Yuusei.

Ah I finally updated. As I promised, I updated on Wednesday. Albeit, a bit late, but it's still Wednesday nonetheless. Thanks for all the encouraging reviews I've received so far. I truly appreciate them. I found it a bit more difficult to write the second chapter of the story since Yako's personality is bit more difficult to portray then Neuro. Neuro's is simple. Just mix a healthy blend of sadism, mischievousness, wittiness and superiority complex then you have Neuro. I hope that I won't disappoint any readers with the second installment. I'm trying to aim for a more canon version of a fanfic for MTNN which basically means very light and subtle hints of romance if you squint really hard. So I apologize beforehand to readers who want a super fluffy, harlequin romance novel like story for Neuro and Yako. That's just not my style. If more than anything, I hate cheesiness and predictability in stories. Unless it's very artistically written and subtle, I most likely will stay away from it as much as possible. Plus, I think many readers would agree with me that an extra fluffy and cheesy romance fic for Neuro and Yako just won't fit. Neuro is too conniving for that. Anyhow, I hope that you guys will enjoy the second chapter as much as I enjoyed writing( coughtoilingovercough) it.

* * *

My sane and ordinary lifestyle was destroyed the day chaos came knocking at my door with my father's murder. Right now my situation is the same:

Chaotic.

To tell the truth, I hate mysteries. Mysteries let chaos fester and grow to something even more terrifying. There is too much room for doubt and questions. Questions that I don't even want to know the answer to. Before Chaos came, I could look away and pretend that I didn't hear the questions. The inability to trust people around you or to look them in the eye, I despise it. The need to suspect everyone as a culprit is a primary tool for an investigator. I never had that kind of cold disposition to start with. I empathize and sympathize too easily. People like me are the ones that are most easily fooled by the criminal. Logic does not apply to me as emotions do. That's why I could not be more incompatible for the role of a private investigator.

Detectives need to be calm and collected throughout the whole investigation. Their mind needs to think clearly no matter what the circumstance, a mind that can link facts easily together as if weaving a web of logic. They isolate themselves from the scene as if they're reading about it through a book. Their composure never lost as they regard the crime scene with a distanced gaze. Not even the sight of a dead body mangled in the most inhuman and unimaginable way will disturb them. In the world of reason, feelings hold no place. Either something is or is not. There are no gray areas and no in betweens. Questions spurned by feelings are just variables that can be disposed of. They hold no impact on the investigation. Motive? Intent? What does it matter? The crime was already committed. An investigator's job is not to understand the cause for the murder. Rather, their job is to understand how the murder is caused.

Evidently, for a person who feels too vividly, detective work is something I will never ever excel at. Instead of asking "How?" I would most surely always ask "Why?"

So how did I land myself in this position? Known to the world as the piggish detective that has solved everything from homicides to terrorist threats. My fame, my reputation, my image in the eyes of mass media is the handiwork of one very peculiar demon.

"_Me? Oh, that's right. Introductions must be made first before humans will acknowledge each other. My name is Nougami Neuro, Brain Eater Nougami Neuro."_

In all my life there will never be another being that bewilders me more than him-Nougami Neuro. He is too surreal, too sinister, too clever, too much. When I first met him, I found his indifference to murders disgusting and insensitive. It wasn't until after the first case we solved together that I realized that the crazy monster's sole objective was to consume this world's mysteries. Other than the primal instinct to feed, not much else mattered to him. In order to satiate his appetite permanently, he had come to this world in search for the ultimate puzzle. Neuro wanted, no, demanded, to use me as tool to attain what his mind desired. I was to act as his cover up to soak up the attention that he would be sure to garner. Fame, power and influence were never something I would aspire to. The right to decline such a preposterous offer wasn't even given to me.

He took everything away as I started to become more and more involved with him-my cherished ordinary life style, my time, my attention, and my freedom. It eventually came to a point where almost every movement I made was dictated by him. There was so much the greedy bastard took that I didn't think there would be any of me left to depend on. His obsession for complete control never ceased to astound me. He had me chained to the palm of his hands.

Surprisingly, despite all the parts of me that he so hungrily claimed, Neuro gave me something in return. It wasn't a material possession like the hair trinket that he had given Akane. No, what he gave me was something so insignificant and intangible that I doubt he was even aware he had given me something that I could hold on to. He gave me security, hope and courage. That may not seem like much to a passerby. The trade off wouldn't even be considered fair. However, I could not find it in myself to complain. Those few things were exactly what I needed to adjust to my new life style. At a time when I should have been listless and depressed over my father's death, I was active and accomplished much more than I could have ever imagined. It was true that before he came along I had lived a relatively calm and normal life as an ordinary high school girl. A life, albeit a bit boring and predictable, that was completely enjoyable. However, back then I was also incapable of many things. I didn't know myself. My experiences with him forced me to reevaluate my strengths and weaknesses, to rediscover my mental and physical limits, to aim for goals that I previously thought impossible. With him, I was able to perceive the world in a different light through a criminal's mind.

Before my identity as 'Katsuragi Yako the Piggish Detective', I had never troubled myself much over the daily headlines in the news. Murders, robberies, natural disasters, genocides were all part of a different world, a world that I couldn't relate to. Just like the general public who don't suffer directly from those incidents, I became desensitized. You can only be shocked so many times with the announcements of hundreds of killings. Other people's tragedies have nothing to do with me nor I with them.

I guess you could say that I was one of those naïve few who still believed in Cinderella stories. After the story is done, you close the book and move on to something new. You never question the validity and plausibility of the fairytale. Did the prince and Cinderella really live happily ever after? How did they overcome their differences in social statuses? Was it possible for Cinderella to adapt to the strict lifestyle of a royalty? There were just so many obstacles that should have impeded their relationship. However, I never bothered to read in between the lines. It was the same with crimes. A murder or a robbery would be explained by the news reporter. The police would solve it, case closed and no questions asked. But there was a lot more to it than just that wasn't there? What about the victim's families who will have to bear the loss of a loved one for the rest of their lives? Even the murders themselves, will they live to regret their actions or turn into something more horrific? Those people who will live forever in their tragedy. The story wasn't over for them yet.

Although Neuro wasn't interested in the background story of each victim's or culprit's lives, I was. He only wanted to dismantle the outside, the barrier to his puzzles. I only wanted to look inside the person, the core that the fortress protects. It was surprising how we complimented each other so perfectly in areas of interest and disinterest. I wished to understand the criminals and their victims even if just by a bit. Their story, that must inevitably continue, I yearned to read it too. That naïve little girl who once placed such blind faith in fairytales, I wanted to leave her behind. No longer did I wish to swallow what was given to me without question. I wanted to change, to evolve, and to mature. If I came to understand the criminal and his incentive, maybe I'll be able to understand humans as a whole a little bit better. And if that happens, maybe, just maybe, I could come to understand a creature like Neuro and his interest in me.

"_Yako. Right now, certainly you are no better than a cloth used to scrub the toilet but I have come to understand all things have the same potential. With the ability and the desire, humans can evolve to become anything."_

That's right. Even if his obsessive hunger for puzzles hasn't changed, his interest in humans has changed, interest in Aya's , X's and then my own potential.

I still remember that first time when Neuro started taking an interest in humans, not just as a breeding ground for his food but rather, as beings worthy of recognition. Before that, the monster was only concerned about himself. Despite his genius, he was pathetically narrow-minded and shallow. As soon as he reached judgment on something, it was nearly impossible to change his mind. He treated what he said as if it was the law. In many ways, he was like a child- an extremely spoiled child at that. He won't take no for answer. He will whine, fuss, threaten and torture until things go his way. He does not care to look after anyone else but himself. He only takes interest in others when their skills are beneficial to him. Neuro pretty much lack the mental maturity that most grown ups are expected to have. However, he was incredibly dependable and efficient. Moreover, he never failed at reminding me that he was _superior._

During the first few cases that the two of us solved together, Neuro would always be running a one man show. I was ruthlessly tossed aside until it was time to point out the culprit. Time and time again, I was shown how I couldn't do anything on my own and how great the distance was between him and I. Although it might have been a fool's wish, I still aspired to catch up to him. Or at the very least, shorten the distance between us. I was tired of always watching his back as he wandered farther and farther away from my reach and understanding. Just once, I would have liked to walk at the same pace as him, by his side, as equals.

The reason why I strived so hard to gain the acknowledgement from a man that tortures the living daylights out of me is unclear. I just knew that I had to. Maybe it was to prove that I wasn't as useless as he so tirelessly flaunts. Maybe it was the desire to best him at his own game (promptly stomping all over his huge ego and stupid male pride at the same time). Maybe I just wanted to look at him levelly without the slave and master dynamic that he so relished in. Whatever the reason, I dredged on despite the many obstacles that he planted in my path. Because a woodlouse, dishrag, paramecium or any of the other demeaning labels that he had given me, couldn't possibly compete with him.

Inch by inch, step by step, I am going to prove to him, and more importantly, myself, that I can indeed become his equal.

* * *

Thank you for reading and please don't forget to review. Again, suggestions and criticisms are always welcome. Have a nice day.

* * *


	3. His and Her Circumstances

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro. No profit has been earned off of this story. The story and the anime all belong to the talented mangaka Matsuei Yuusei.

I know I said that I wouldn't be updating till July but quite frankly I couldn't help it. It's a good thing, actually - whenever I hit exam period, I get this creative burst to do _everything_ but study - and all of this is an good outlet. Writing this chapter proved to be a lot of fun. What's more is I just had my two of my wisdom teeth extracted a couple of days ago. For some reason, the pain that I gleaned from the experience inspired me to write. Believe me, it was absolutely,horrifically painful. Before that, I had a major writer's block and I wasn't even sure if I could continue the story past the two chapters I've already written. So I guess you have my unfortunate circumstances to thank for this unprecedented update. Now at least I have a vague idea where this story is going. VAGUELY. Hopefully, all of you will enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you again for the reviews and hits I've received so far. They are truly encouraging.

Just a little note that I would like to stick in here: Please visit my profile for the fanart I drew for this fanfic. Hope that after viewing the art, you too might have a whole new outlook for my story.

Now, without further ado... onto Chapter 3 of Dominance!

* * *

Yako glared at the clock.

.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as the minute hand slowly dragged itself from number to number. If looks could kill and if the clock was an animate object, it would have died several times over by now.

.

As it was everyday when the office was about to close, the time seem to come to a standstill, stubbornly refusing to budge despite all of Yako's silent threats. Her eyes now twitching ever so slightly, Yako threw the poor clock on the wall another vehement glare before turning her attention back on to the pile of newspapers that she had been working on for the past few hours.

.

Neuro had once again burdened her with an enormous stack of any newspaper he could get a hold of and demanded her to comb through them _thrice _in search of potential mysteries that might sate his appetite. After having dumped all the work onto his slave, he had left to god knows where leaving Yako behind at the office.

.

It was uncharacteristic of him to have her man the office all by herself; not even Godai was there to accompany her. Yako was used to having Neuro always peering over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't slacking off. If she was, she would most definitely gain a few bruises and cuts to remember her slip up by a few moments afterwards. She didn't mind the solitude; she chose to revel in it. The only thing grating on her nerves right now was the sheer boredom her task created. Truthfully, Neuro's aura and company can be altogether suffocating at times. When he was with her he would make sure to stick to her like a leech out in public. At the office he would constantly use her as a form of entertainment. She was barely ever left alone to do the work that he had given her. Every five minutes or so, he would touch her in some manner or another to inflict plain and terror into her very soul. Yako swore that Neuro suffers from attention deficit disorder as he always needs to do SOMETHING or several things to keep him occupied. He never concentrated on one single task at a time. Indeed, her demon stalker boss was simply infuriating to be around.

.

Yako sighed for the umpteenth time that day and looked up at the ceiling. Why must her work be so ludicrous and tiresome? Girls her age should be working as a waitress in a cute little café, as a cashier at a fast food joint maybe, or even as an assistant chef in one of those lovely family run restaurants. Girls her age should be taking their first shy step into relationships with the opposite sex, dating their boyfriends after school or work. They should NOT, however, be dragged around constantly into entirely too risky situations chasing the behinds of demented bloodthirsty criminals after curfew hours. They should not have to study and memorize the daily headlines like a bible looking for the most gruesome of murders or the nastiest of terrorist conspiracies. Above all, they most definitely should not have to deal with the insanity and anguish that comes with consorting with a spawn of the underworld.

.

Karma must hate her Yako concluded. She must have been one hell of a wicked being in her past life. There was absolutely no other explanation for her predicament right now. At least she could confirm that nothing that she ever did in her present life was spiteful enough to earn her this horrible fate.

.

Who does she owe all her thanks to for her completely whacked out rollercoaster routine that she called a life? Nougami Neuro, the ever persistent, the ever hungry, the ever pain in the ass demon, that's who. Yes, Yako grumbled. It was all Neuro's goddamn fault. As soon as she becomes physically capable, she was going to give Neuro the ass whooping of his hellish life. She's going to make him sorry for ever coming up to the surface world and choosing to mess with the almighty human female called Yako. Revenge will be sweet as soon as she figures out a way to pummel the nearly immortal hell spawn and his sky-high ego into the ground.

.

Focusing her attention again on the numerous heaps of newspapers littered across the table in front of her, Yako proceeded to tidy it up. She had already highlighted all the articles that she thought Neuro might be interested in. She even tabbed the ones that seemed more important or deadly. Yako grumbled with discontent. She was entirely too kind to the demon in her perspective. Nevertheless, the girl didn't want to die an early PREVENTABLE death so she carried the stack of sorted newspapers to Neuro's desk and aligned them in a fairly neat manner. Dusting her hands off and giving herself a pat on the back for a job well-done, Yako walked back towards the sofa and collapsed onto it.

.

There was still five minutes left till the office closed. Curses. Where in the world was Neuro anyways? He should have been back by now. If he didn't come back soon, she would have to stay in overtime. Yako moaned unceremoniously into the sofa.

.

Akane stopped her secretarial work briefly, bobbing worriedly in her companion's direction. Yako waved off the office secretary's concern with a tired hand, smiling fondly while she did so. At least there was one person in this complex that actually cared about her well being. Even if said person was long dead and could only move her hair due to demonic influences. It was still comforting to have a female acquaintance in her testosterone abundant company. And testosterone abundant it was. Yako swore that it must have been some god's idea of a sick joke to stick her in the screwed up reverse harem that she was in now. She rubbed her tired eyes in aggravation. Trust the heavenly influences to make sure that not only will she never lead a normal lifestyle again, but to also deny her the joy of developing a romantic relationship with a nice, cute, around her age, not a fan, type of guy. Oh no, she just had to spend her days with an interesting but depressing array of violent, sadistic, otaku, controlling, way too formal, malicious, demanding, egoistic and above all, socially dysfunctional males. Did she mention that all of them were way too old for her anyways? Except maybe for that Higuchi boy, but Yako couldn't help but wish for someone who is more in touch with the real world rather than the virtual one. After the HAL incident, Yako had more than enough of her share of the electronic world to last her a lifetime. She wasn't even going to bother guessing how old Neuro was. He could be prehistoric for all she cared.

.

_Poor, poor girl_, Yako consoled herself. _Kanae was wrong, you won't die as an old hag without any romantic affiliations. Instead, not only are you going to die a premature death, but you are also going to die as a virgin never knowing or understanding the adult world of carnal pleasure._

.

Yako would have sobbed out of self pity if a hand hadn't suddenly shot out of nowhere and twisted her neck in a perfect 360° angle.

.

Damn that was going to smart for a few days.

.

"What is this?" A sinfully dark voice purred in her ear. "Has my slave been slacking off while the master was away?"

.

Yako gritted her teeth, half from pain, half from frustration. Trust the bastard to return at the most inopportune moments. She wasn't even allowed time to grieve over her many woes.

.

_Yes, stress, overwork, chastity and an early death, ready or not, here I come! _The girl muttered to herself with a false cheer.

.

"Care to repeat that woodlouse? I'm afraid that I didn't catch a word of the worthless dialog that you so eloquently mumbled."

.

An iron grip descended upon Yako's scalp.

.

With a yelp,Yako tried unsuccessfully to pry off Neuro's hand before her brain gets squashed into smush. Why did he have to squeeze so hard? It's not like he hadn't already destroyed the majority of her brain cells with his daily torture.

.

"Neuro! Let go this instant! You're hurting me!" Yako wailed.

.

"Oh you dare give out orders now dishrag? How shall I punish your insolence? Would you prefer a lazy soak in a tank full of piranhas or a delightful plunge into the icy waters of the Antartic?" Neuro chortled in amusement. His hypnotic green eyes swirled, catching every movement she made.

.

Yako only managed to blurt out something completely incoherent as the demon increased the pressure on her head.

.

Neuro studied her pained expression with a childish glee for a moment longer before removing his hand from her head.

.

Gasping with relief, her hands shot up to her abused scalp, hurriedly massaging her head to get the blood circulation going again. She rubbed her neck too and winced at the soreness that was already intensifying. If she wasn't going to die from Neuro's torture or at the hands of a criminal, she was surely going to die from overdosing on painkillers. Physically drained, Yako turned to Neuro with a wary eye.

.

"I already finished the work that you gave me. It's all ready and organized for your convenience on your desk." Yako grumbled out sarcastically. "Now, if you don't mind. I'm going to head home for a well deserved rest. Working hours are over anyways."

.

Taking his attention off Yako, Neuro glanced at the neat stacks of newspaper on his desk to the clock in the office. Indeed, working hours were over.

.

"Very well maggot, you may leave. Be sure to come on time for work tomorrow. Or else..." He let the unspoken threat hang in the air. When Yako didn't respond, he unsheathed his claws noisily.

.

The unmistakable clink of metal scraping against metal was enough to jolt Yako out of her tired and pained reverie. She hurriedly picked herself up, gathered her belongings and bolted to the door. After bidding a rushed farewell to Akane (she didn't even bother with Neuro; it would have been wasted on him anyways) she was out of the office in a blink of an eye.

* * *

Neuro huffed indignantly as he watched the speed at which Slave Number One fled the office after he had given her leave to do so. Truly, Yako was entirely too thankless a creature and would have to be punished duly for her ungrateful behavior. She should be honoured to work in such close proximity with a great demon such as himself. The dishrag will learn to appreciate his presence and attention in the immediate future; he would make sure of it. Neuro mentally noted to put that task on his priority list of lessons to etch into Yako's puny brain.

.

He nodded a greeting to Akane as she waved to him from her place on the wall. Making his way to his desk, Neuro glanced at the newspapers he had Yako look over. It appears that she did a decent enough job with the articles. He did sense quite an ample amount of mysteries from the ones that she did take note of; some of them actually enticed him. So his slave was becoming more familiar with his taste in puzzles was she? This definitely bodes well for the demon. Having a pet that understands and provides for your needs was a luxury that Neuro was more than happy to acquire.

.

_Hmph, all the more reason why I absolutely must have the woodlouse under my possession. She is gradually becoming more useful._

.

Neuro commended himself on his excellent taste in subordinates. He expected no less from a creature as faultless as him. Sifting quickly through the piles of newspaper with his numerous eyes, Neuro absorbed all the information he needed within a matter of seconds. After he was finished, he promptly discarded the materials; keeping a carbon copy of the information was pointless as every single detail was already engraved into his mind.

.

Leaning into his chair, he closed his eyes and appeared to be at rest . Then, one, two, three, four crimson stains materialized on his once unblemished suit. Neuro opened his mouth and coughed out several bullets. He examined himself with a bemused expression before taking one of the bullets and putting it back into his mouth. Chewing on the object thoughtfully for a while, he spat it out forcefully into the desk. A slight crack emerged from the wood where the bullet impacted. Slowly, a sickly and deformed looking plant sprouted out of the crevice. It croaked pitifully once and folded itself back into the crack leaving no mark behind on the desk. Neuro gazed pensively at the space where the plant disappeared. It would appear that his daemonic powers are steadily diminishing despite the many nutritious meals he consumed on a regular basis. He would have to be more careful when facing opponents from now on. No longer can he carelessly rely on his monstrous endurance to ensure his survival. The lack of shouki on the surface was finally beginning to take a toll on his body. Although it would be quite some time before his body completely rots into a state parallel to humans, it would be wise to take precautions. After all, he had no plans on becoming the weak and pathetic creature that humans are. A great demon like him should stay on top of the food chain just like he was created to. To be anything less would be an blasphemous.

.

_My, my, I can't let the worm see me like this. I must take care to cover my injuries in front of her lest she develops some unhealthy ideals about my powers._

.

If there was anything that he despised, it was to have beings lower than himself questioning and doubting his supremacy. It would not do to show weakness to the very creature he sought to obtain. No, it would not do at all.

.

Neuro scoffed at his own predicament. He was a gluttonous beast; he won't deny that fact. After all, he had deemed his stomach more important than breathing. If this was the price he had to pay, then so be it. He can handle it. Before his demise, he will definitely devour the ultimate mystery.

.

He had left Yako behind at the office today since he had an appointment with the Hayasaka brothers. Rather, he had decided to pay them a surprise visit in order to milk information off of them about the latest terrorist incident. Neuro had a nagging suspicion that Smiling Face Ltd. was the one supplying the organization with supplies. As usual, his suspicions proved correct. The brothers hadn't been too pleased with his intrusion and the encounter had ended rather violently. Of course, they were the ones to receive the brunt end of the stick. Neuro was a bit disappointed that he didn't escape the situation unscathed. No matter, he retrieved what he went for. Now that he had all the ingredients to unlock the terrorist's puzzle, he can proceed to chase the criminal down.

.

A predatory grin made its way across Neuro's face. Already, he was salivating in anticipation. He hadn't had a good solid meal in a while. Hopefully, this puzzle would prove to be satisfying. Yako presence would be needed too to complete the stage. It might be a bit dangerous considering the erratic behavior of this particular terrorist however Neuro was confident that he and Yako will be able to survive the ordeal. After all, Neuro had been shot at practically gun point, riddled with bullets, impaled with hundreds of shards of glass, crushed by a mountain of humans... one terrorist isn't going to hurt him much.

.

"The mystery is on the tip of my tongue." Neuro smirked.

.

He closed the office for the night. Tonight, he will rest up so that no evidence of todays wounds will remain. Neuro settled himself comfortably on the couch. Tomorrow, will prove to be an eventful day.

.

Tomorrow, he will feed.

* * *

Please leave reviews. I appreciate them very much and need feedback for future chapters. Any suggestions, ideas, comments are welcome. Please don't hesitate to provide your input. I would love to hear how you wish the story to go. Cheers! Until the next chapter!


	4. Unfortunate Circumstances

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro. No profit has been earned off of this story. The story and the anime all belong to the talented mangaka Matsuei Yuusei.

Hi there my dear readers! As I've promised, here is the 4th installment of Dominance! It took me a while to write this since... it's bigger than my first three chapters put together( about, give or take). The next chapter should be up... sometime next week I believe, or maybe this weekend depending on how it goes. I've already started on the next chapter. Really, I've originally planned to have a bit of next chapter in this one but then thought that it would be too long and the flow of the story would be disturbed.

Also, I would like to ask the readers to go to my profile and answer the question that I put under Story update!. I'm quite curious as to see who would be interested in that genre of story if I do write it.

Special Thanks to: My lovely Beta Readers that caught all my grammatical mistakes, typos and left out words. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now without further ado, please enjoy Dominance Chapter 4!

* * *

_Yako was going to kill Neuro._

.

No, cross out that idea. She was going to whoop his ass so badly that he won't be able to sit on it ever again. THEN she was going to kill him. That, or she was going to staple his stomach (effectively disabling him from eating anything bigger than a bite sized mystery), beat him to a mutated, bloody, demon pulp, then proceed to slaughter him in a most revolting manner that would make even the Devil blush with pride.

.

The author feels that it should suffice to say that Nougami Neuro was a very, very, very dead man/demon and that his chances of becoming road kill were skyrocketing exponentially with every second that passes.

.

But let's rewind the tape shall we? How ,exactly, did the current situation of the feeble human female called Yako swearing to slay off the hell spawn called Neuro come to be?

.

**Earlier that day**

Today was not going to be a good day. Yako could tell as she glanced almost dispassionately at the large gaping hole that barely laid an inch from her nose. Without a doubt, Yako thought to herself, waking up to the hissing and spurting of acid burning through your pillows and its putrid odor did not even begin to define her ideal morning. She passively considered hiding under her non melted pillow, curling up into a ball and ignoring the odd scenario that had just transpired, but then she remembered that she had not written out her will just yet, nor had she invested in life insurance. Yako always felt that if she did die, someone should benefit from the tragic event- at the very least her mom or Kanae. Since the preparations haven't been made just yet she would just have to suck it up and face the cruel and ugly reality that she had entitled Nougami Neuro. Granted, not before she made a mental note to meet a lawyer and trustworthy insurance company to discuss the situations following her demise as soon as possible. That way, she could die whenever the mood conveniently hits her- which, by the way, was becoming disturbingly frequent.

.

Mind made up, Yako shifted her body so that her view would align directly with Neuro's, who, she had a nagging suspicion, was currently dwelling on her ceiling.

.

Sure enough, her sleepy eyes came to greet the sight of her cockroach like boss defying all laws of gravity as usual, while sporting his signature sickeningly sinister grin . Newton, Einstein and Hawking would have been devastated if they knew that the very foundations of their theories were being razed to the ground so absentmindedly on a daily basis.

.

Yako suppressed a weary sigh that was quickly rising from her throat. She took a quick glance at her hamburger shaped alarm clock on her bedside table. 7:00 AM it read in large, angry, red digital fonts.

.

Wonderful. Neuro had been kind enough to wake her up in time for school, Yako noted, mental thoughts dripping with sarcasm.

.

Her attention refocusing on Neuro, Yako decided that she had put off the inevitable long enough. She might as well try to start the day off on a good note-with Neuro anyways. Yako was unsure if her morning could still be salvaged as the hole beside her hissed again.

.

"Good morning, Neuro. Slept well?" Yako asked with a tone entirely too upbeat for the early hours of the morning. She winced slightly.

.

Neuro responded by widening his Cheshire cat smile, all of his razor sharp teeth exposed. Then he dropped down from the ceiling, promptly kneeing Yako in the guts while doing so.

.

Yako was thankful that her stomach was empty for once as the breath was knocked out of her.

.

"I-I'll ... take...that wheezeas a gasp yes." She croaked. So much for starting things off on a good note. Good graces were evidently wasted on Neuro. Why did she even bother in the first place? Oh, that's right; she was a proper, civilized and SANE individual.

.

In this part of the universe there is great injustice, as Yako had come to discover- often the good suffer, and the wicked prosper, and one hardly knows which of those is the more annoying. But if Yako could put in her two cents, she would say the part where to the good suffer was more annoying. After all, she never did anything to deserve this. If the wicked had to prosper they could very well do so without bothering her. Was that too much to ask for?

.

"Rise and shine, maggot! I'm feeling absolutely ravished! If you don't get up soon, you might just lose your head!" Neuro cheerily exclaimed with an oh so innocent expression and glistening claws. "Not that you had one to begin with, of course."

.

Yes, apparently that was too much to ask for.

.

* * *

After being thrown into the washroom to wash up, then thrown into her closet to change (To be fair, it wasn't even a walk-in closet. However, Yako prefer cramped space over exhibiting what little feminine attributes she possessed to another male, much less Neuro, any day.), then thrown into the wall and onto the ceiling several times just for the heck of it, Yako finally managed to crawl to her beloved dining table. She was amazed that her body had become so durable. Truly, it was astounding that she had survived this long under Neuro's wing. Any other female would have long taken their life by now.

.

Not even ten minutes after she had woken up and already her body was riddled with bruises and aches- a brand new record. By no means was she keeping any score seeing how the old ones keep getting broken at a breakneck speed. Nevertheless, she was still disgruntled over the sad state of her body.

.

Moving onto happier and slightly more agreeable things, Yako decided to opt for something speedy and nutritious breakfast-10 bowls of cereal, a whole loaf of bread, a pitcher of orange juice, and a box of pop tarts. After all, it was never a wise move to make Neuro wait long. Moreover, he had given her a time constraint of just under five minutes to "ingurgitate filth" as he had so delicately put it. Quickly shoveling as much as she could, as fast as she could, into her mouth, Yako peered at Neuro who was currently studying her with a bemused expression.

.

"I do believe that proper dining etiquette has never been imparted to you. Or did your meager mental capacities prove insufficient in grasping such a simple yet graceful art?"

.

Yako only narrowed her eyes slightly at the blatant insult. She didn't dare glare at Neuro, not with her mouth full of food anyway. The many torturous scenarios that could result from such a provocation was something she was more than willing to avoid, especially this early on in the day. She concentrated on her food instead, good, safe, sane, familiar, nice food. Oh woe is Yako for eating breakfast with her demented boss. Really, nothing in the girl's life had ever gone right after he forced his way into her life.

.

It didn't take long for the mountain of food to disappear. Fortunately, she managed to finish her breakfast within the time constraint that Neuro had given her. There was still thirty minutes left till she had to leave for school. She was running early after all. There was going to be a mid term exam today in two of her courses. Maybe she should go to school early to do some last minute review. Yako had stayed up quite late last night just going over the textbook and the in-class notes. However, she was still unsure if she was completely ready. Which brings her back to the matter at hand: why exactly had Neuro come today, so early too? Usually, he would just wait for her at the office. He knew that today was a school day. What could he possibly have planned? Surely, as insane and inconsiderate as he was, he wouldn't expect her to skip school for a mystery, right?

.

Giving Neuro another glance, Yako was starting to have second thoughts. This was Neuro after all. His life revolved around his stomach. Yako was included in his life-as his property nonetheless. The asshole might just have extended that thought to having her life revolve around his stomach too. She wouldn't put it past him to do something so outrageously selfish. To reiterate, this was Neuro after all.

.

Already, she could feel her face pulling into a tight knit frown. She sighed.

.

"Mystery is it, Neuro?"

.

"My, my, you have become surprisingly perceptive today slave. Pray, tell, is it because of the early hours or is it because of my lovely wake up call?" Neuro inquired with that stupid, stupid smirk of his.

.

"Neuro, I'm not in the mood. I happen to have TWO very important tests today at school and I would REALLY prefer NOT to skip out on them. I might not get the chance to make up for it. If that happens, I might fail the two courses." She almost whined with exasperation. Yup, her day was officially ruined.

.

That thought was cut short, however, when a clawed hand encircled her delicate neck and applied minimal pressure.

.

"Oh? I could have sworn that I just heard an insignificant little arthropod stating that their life is much more important than mine. I must have heard wrong. What do you think Yako?"

.

The last of Neuro's words came out in a hiss. Without Yako noticing, he had closed the space between them dangerously. His face was only a few inches away, so close that Yako could feel his hot breath ghosting over her cheek. She gulped as she stared directly into his swirling magnetic acid green eyes. Beads of cold sweat rolled down her back.

.

"Yako?"

.

The hand around her neck tightened slightly, almost as if teasing the pliable skin underneath its sharp edges.

.

"Y-y-yes?..I mean... NO! No there were no bugs ... N-n-none at all! Erm I'll just callinandtellthemthatIhaveimportantdetectivework" Yako squeaked out hurriedly as she broke out of her stupor. Her hands shot up in between them, futilely trying to create a barrier between his searching eyes and her. She had never been comfortable in close proximity with Neuro. It always either meant her brain cells were in danger of becoming extinct, or her life was dangling on a thread. Basically, being close to Neuro was never good news for both her mental or physical well-being.

.

She gasped with relief as the claws retracted and the pressure lessened slightly. Yes, she will definitely go look up life insurances and lawyers today after work. It might be the only way to deliver her from this insanity.

.

"Hmm, just as I thought. Of course, I'm never wrong." Neuro purred with mirth. "Now Yako, we should really be on our way. If we take any longer, the mystery might be overripe by the time we arrive. Now, we certainly don't want that to happen, do we?"

.

Yako only managed a weak nod. Neuro's hands were still encircled around her neck even with the claws gone.

.

"Good pet."

.

With that said, Yako was dragged quite roughly out of her house to wherever the mystery awaited them-by the neck.

.

* * *

Scenery and buildings rolled past the double paned windows of the train as it sped along the tracks. Yako gazed indifferently outside. It was a cloudy day. The darkening skies warned of a rainstorm up ahead. There was a slight chill in the air too. Since it wasn't quite winter yet, the train's heating system hadn't been turned on. The girl shivered slightly as she half curled up into a ball in her seat. Good thing that she had decided to wear her heavy brown winter coat today despite the warm weather that had been relatively consistent. She could use a scarf but it wasn't all that bad. Yako rested her head tiredly on the window, feeling the occasional bumps in the train's motion as it chugged along.

.

Neuro had told her that today they were pursuing the mad terrorist that had recently popped up all over the news. Apparently, he had taken up residence in one of the smaller villages in the countryside. The man was wanted by several nations worldwide for his acts of terrorism. Along with his rather unstable nature, the man had a bizarre fetish for destroying buildings or landmarks with explosive bombs that emitted poisonous gas. Many innocent lives had been claimed all for the enjoyment of one individual. In any case, it would be a dangerous chase for the both of them. Although Yako understood that human weapons had very little impact on Neuro, she wondered if poison gas could harm him at all. Usually, the very things that harm humans were beneficial to him. There was also the more pressing issue-her safety. Hopefully, she could come out of this confrontation unscathed. She was slightly disconcerted that they were acting without support from the police. However, Neuro had insisted on this course of action saying that the terrorist was very much aware about the police's movement. If the police force so much as move a kilometer in his general direction, he would flee. That was how the terrorist had evaded justice for so long. He was incredibly up to date with all the monitoring of the law-enforcers. It couldn't be helped if they wanted to catch the culprit. The two of them must move by themselves to attract less suspicion. Moreover, they weren't any government officials so the terrorist shouldn't be monitoring them at all. The man would be taken by surprise. At least, that was the plan.

.

Currently, she and Neuro were in their very own cabin. It was quite comfortable, actually. The dark polished cedar finish gave the room a refined look. The benches themselves were covered with a deep, rich, maroon velvet. The window was wide, offering a scenic view of the passing landscape. Yako would have enjoyed the ride if it weren't for the reason why they were on it right now. Moreover, she could possibly be failing two of her more important courses at the moment.

.

She had phoned into the school and briefed them very, very lightly about her situation. Her teacher had remained unconvinced that she truly had something important to do and thought that she was making up an absurd excuse to skip the tests. No matter what she said, her teacher had remained stubbornly inconsiderate about her situation. Neuro, who had decided that she was taking too long on the phone, had grabbed the phone away from her and told the teacher that if she wanted proof of 'sensei's' honorable deeds, she should just read tomorrow's newspapers and had then calmly hung up on Yako's teacher. After that, he had tossed Yako's cell phone back to her carelessly, disregarding her stupefied open mouth expression. Of course, Yako had been irritated at his rudeness and outright disrespect for her teacher, but then again he had saved her a lot of trouble in explaining exactly WHAT she was going to do. So Yako was left with no choice but to brush off the incident.

.

Looking up at the ceiling of the cabin, Yako studied Neuro with a disengaged interest. Apparently, he had thought that the benches were too small for his lengthy body and had decided to settle on the ceiling instead. At the moment, he was going through a book of sudoku puzzles. Before getting on the train, Neuro had said he was too hungry and wanted a light snack so he had dragged her off to a bookstore and bought a big stack of sudoku puzzle books-expert level. It goes without saying; she was the one who was forced to carry the hulking amount of books. She had been none too happy about it, but obeyed anyways. Currently, he was on his fifth volume. Yako gazed apprehensively at the demon; worry was still eating at her.

.

"What is it, slave?" Neuro asked, still keeping his attention on the book.

.

Yako hesitated for a moment, but she gulped down her nervousness-might as well confront her fears now rather than later.

.

"Do you think that we will be able to pull this off safely? I mean this man is very dangerous. Moreover, he has quite a spontaneous and erratic behavior. I'm a bit worried Neuro, especially since we're acting without any backup." Yako confessed with a concerned voice. Her brows furrowed together in a light frown.

.

Putting his book down, Neuro shifted his position so that he was directly over top of Yako. He regarded her with a solemn look.

.

Yako fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment under Neuro's penetrating gaze.

.

However, her edginess was quickly replaced with exasperation as Neuro's expression switched to his blank open eyed stare- the one he made whenever he was mocking her. Very slowly, a silver drop of Neuro's acidic saliva drooped out of his mouth and inched ever so treacherously towards Yako. How the demon managed to keep the drop of drool intact was something that Yako would never know-not that she wanted to find out although she was very thankful for it. She shrunk back into her seat, as far as she could away from the offensive and potentially fatal liquid.

.

"Do NOT threaten me with your various bodily fluids Neuro. That's just plain vile and downright low, not to mention extremely disturbing." Yako shuddered with disgust. "And answer my question seriously for once! I am very concerned about my safety! I know that you can take care of yourself just fine but don't forget that I will be there too."

.

After a few more painful moments of wondering whether Neuro will melt her with his highly volatile spit, the demon had the audacity to _slurp _his drivel back into his mouth, causing another wave of shudders to run down Yako's back. Really, Neuro enjoyed torturing her way too much. He should look into other avenues of amusement for the sake of her sanity. Maybe she should introduce him to DoTA or maybe Warcraft. Wasn't that the new fad for teenagers nowadays? She heard from Higuchi that some people can spend entire days in front of the computer playing regardless of hunger or fatigue. Days where Neuro wouldn't come harassing her to go off in search for mysteries with him? Sounds like a dream. She must most definitely give addictive mmorpgs a try. If all works out, she could possibly bypass writing her will and putting her food money into life insurance. Yako was quickly shaken out of her reverie, however, by the deep baritone voice of her boss. Not to mention, he had abruptly swung down and was hanging with his face right in front of hers.

.

"Really, impertinent wood louse, you should have more faith in your master's abilities. I'm a man who had conquered the hell's inferno. Whatever pathetic tools you humans dish out can't possibly hurt me. I'll make sure to keep you out of harm's way seeing how you're perfectly incapable of protecting your worthless life. Besides, the criminal will most likely be aiming for me so I don't see where this fanatic worrying of yours germinated from. Now get some rest or be quiet. I don't like to be disturbed when I'm snacking." Neuro ordered with a tone that allowed no argument. Then he readjusted himself to his previous position on the ceiling before Yako had disturbed him.

.

Not convinced, Yako wanted an assurance from Neuro.

.

"So you promise then?" she inquired.

.

"Promise you what, maggot?" Neuro was now regarding her with a slight edge of annoyance. He had been interrupted once again in his sudoku solving.

.

"That you'll protect me." she insisted.

.

Instead of offering her a verbal response, Neuro opted for a physical demonstration of his answer. After all, actions spoke louder than words. In the very next second, Yako found herself encased in his claws, two of them dangerously close to piercing out her eyeballs.

.

"ALRIGHT I GET IT ALREADY! LET ME GO! LET ME GO! I'LL BE QUIET! PLEASE!" She shrieked, nerves on edge.

.

Satisfied, Neuro morphed his hands back into that of a humans and went back to his puzzles.

.

_That JERK! _Yako was absolutely furious; adrenaline was still coursing through her veins as blood pounded in her ears. All she wanted was a simple yes but he couldn't even offer her that much. She fumed for a few more minutes. One of these days she WILL exact her revenge and he WILL suffer. However, since he didn't say no to her question, she would just take his less than appreciated response as a yes. Yako sulked. Why must karma hate her? She sighed.

.

Neuro's claws shot out again.

.

Biting down an indignant scream, Yako decided instead to sleep off her fury. If luck favored her at all today, she might just live to see the sun again. She flopped onto the warm soft bench and dozed off.

.

* * *

Really, Yako thought to herself, the boy didn't look anything like a terrorist. From his angelic face down to his short and awkward stature, one would have never guessed that such an individual had committed countless heinous acts. He was wearing the same deer-in-headlight expression that every criminal wore when Neuro explained 'in her stead' the intricate mechanics of their crime, the flaws, and the footprints left leading back to them as the culprit. He was shaking now, near his breaking point. Yako could tell that the puzzle was about to be released. She was thankful that the ordeal was coming to an end. At the present moment, she still remained unharmed. The boy had been too distracted by Neuro's flawless reasoning to rebut at all. Yako couldn't wait to arrest the boy and hand him over the police; he was as unstable as a ticking bomb. From the very first glance, she could tell that there was something very, very wrong beneath the boy's seemingly innocent exterior. Maybe it was the slight crinkle in his mouth, the abnormal dilations of the pupils, or the bizarre manner he carried himself. Whatever the reason, the boy had an echo of Kaitou X's maniacal aura around him- nowhere as intense or potent, but still present nevertheless.

.

She was scared.

.

As soon as Neuro and Yako had gotten off the train, they had spearheaded their way to the culprit's hideout and caught him off guard. The boy lived in a little abandoned house. A passerby would not have suspected anyone dwelling in that establishment if not for the trashcans filled up to the brim beside the dwelling. It was a shabby and rundown little shack that offered little to no warmth, the air was much too damp and smelt of mildew and rot. The carpeting had been half removed, exposing the cracked concrete floor underneath. On the walls, the wallpaper was slowly peeling off due to the moisture and the decades old paint was flaking off. To say the least, the place gave Yako the creeps.

.

For such a high profile criminal, she was surprised that the boy didn't instill any protection around him except for a few spy cameras and an identification system. Neuro had easily bypassed all his defenses, leaving the boy at his mercy. As usual, Yako had pointed at him, delivering her catch phrase "The culprit is... YOU!".

.

Now as she stood several meters behind Neuro, Yako wished that the demon would just hurry it up. She could see that his drool was about to overflow from his mouth as the boy finally collapsed in defeat. "Itadakimasu," she heard him say in that dark whisper of his as she felt something get sucked out of the atmosphere like a vacuum. She sighed with relief; it was finally over.

.

They boy laid in a despondent heap on the ground as Neuro turned towards her with that childlike expression of his that he always wore after a good meal. She offered him a weak smile in response.

.

"Excellent work, Sensei! Now I think that we should call-" Neuro started.

.

But Yako wasn't listening anymore. Her eyes had caught the slight twitch in the boy's fingers as Neuro focused his attention on her. She saw the boy reach out from behind him, grabbing ahold of something that looked like a bazooka launcher All at once, time seemed to stop for a moment as Yako's eyes widened in unadulterated surprise. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as the weapon was aimed at her. She only had enough time to shut her eyes and bring her arms up to shield herself in vain before the world fell around her.

.

Only one thought coursed through her mind then:

.

_Neuro lied._

* * *

777 Tools of Hell: EVIL CLIFFHANGER!

Dun dun dun!

'author gets shot by mobs of angry readers'

Nooooooo!

Well, really, all silliness and grudges against cliffhangers aside, please review! I appreciate them very much and need feedback for future chapters. Any suggestions, ideas, comments are welcome. Please don't hesitate to provide your input. I would love to hear how you wish the story to go. Cheers! Until the next chapter!


	5. Grave Circumstance

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro. No profit has been earned off of this story. The story and the anime all belong to the talented mangaka Matsuei Yuusei.

Dear Readers, as you might have guessed if you read my profile at all, the update had been moved forward thanks to the speedy beta reading skills of my beta readers. You have their rapid proofreading/ editing to thank for for this early post. The wisdom tooth extraction didn't hurt much this time around (for which I'm extremely thankful for) so I was able to concentrate more on this story. It's a bit longer than the last one( just by a bit) although I amaze myself by writing so much in such a short period of time. Before writing fanfiction I never wrote past 800 words per document. So 4000+ words is a big step for me.

First off, I would like to sincerely thank all my beta readers for catching any orthographic/grammatical mistake and also wrong word choices. Without them, this story's quality would have been significantly deterred. Furthermore, with their dedication and devotion I found myself making less and less mistakes in my writing as well. So a big applause for their efforts. I know all of you have heard it from me so many times but I can't help but say it again: THANK YOU!

**Unknown D Flamerose: **Thank you so much for your wonderful review. I'm really flattered that you think that my story is worthy of becoming a doujinshi( that's how it's spelled I think) and that this story is one of your top favourites. Your support is very much appreciated. Since you are not a registered account user, I can only reply to your review this way. Thank you again! Hope that you will continue to support me in my writing endeavors.

**For everyone else: **You all wanted to know what happened after the evil cliffhanger of the last chapter. Well here it is not even 4 days after the last update. Enjoy! Thanks to all those who have faithfully followed, read and reviewed my story. It is truly inspiring to have this much support.

* * *

Neuro noticed his slave's horrified expression a bit too late. He had been too careless by letting his guard down at the last minute. The bomb was already launched and the demon barely had enough time to deflect the trajectory so that his slave wouldn't be hit dead on. However, the framework of the house was inevitably destroyed by the explosion and collapsed onto Yako, crushing her.

.

The first thing Neuro did was to incapacitate the boy so that the boy would not witness his demonic powers. The impact should not have killed Yako; the foundations of the house were built out of wood. If the house had been built out of concrete, Neuro was unsure if Yako would have been able to survive. Rapidly, he dug through the wreckage, searching for his slave, hefting effortlessly the fallen timbers and debris. Finally, he saw Yako's arm, the only visible part of her body as the rest was under a pile of rubble. Very carefully, the demon lifted the debris off of her and pulled her out. Supporting her frame with one arm, Neuro sent a small electric impulse through the girl - she was barely conscious as it was. The shock of being crushed must have provoked her body to shut down.

.

All at once, Yako became fully alert, gasping for air. Her hands latched on to Neuro's arm tightly as she regained awareness of her surroundings and her situation. The demon was about to check the severity of Yako's injuries when he detected a faintly fruity odor in the air.

.

_The poison._

.

The demon hissed in annoyance. He had almost forgotten about the terrorist's signature bomb. Acting quickly, Neuro moved both Yako and the boy to safer grounds. He was not going to let the boy die just yet, not without paying dearly for damaging his valuable tool first. Throwing the boy roughly aside, the hell spawn refocused his attention on his slave. The girl was still conscious although her physical state had worsened drastically. Neuro was uncertain if the poisonous substance had entered Yako's system. She shouldn't have been exposed to a lethal amount as he did remove her from the danger rather swiftly. However, the demon's knowledge on the effects of poison on the human body was quite limited since he himself had never concerned himself with such trivial matters. After all, his body was pretty much immune to any deadly chemical agents.

.

"Yako?" Neuro hesitantly asked.

.

For the first time in his life, Neuro was unsure what to do. Sure he had inflicted much discomfort on Yako's part with all of his daily tortures, but never had he ever caused her this much pain. Being a spawn of the underworld, pain was no stranger to him. However, watching the weak little dishrag suffer so much was a novelty. Her ashen face was taut with agony as she writhed and gasped uncontrollably in his hold. Yako's skin felt cold and clammy to the touch. She was clutching him so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. The worst part of her pained features, Neuro decided, was her eyes. As foreign as feelings were to him, Neuro could sense the anguish, fear and panic Yako was experiencing rolling off of her in waves when he looked into her eyes. Her tears wouldn't stop streaking either. He could tell that she was trying to be strong, to prevent him from seeing the true extent of her suffering. She tried in vain to choke back her sobs and to calm herself down as she continued to spasm erratically. However, it was a battle that she was slowly losing. The girl appeared to have difficulty breathing as well. An alien feeling infiltrated Neuro's senses then. The demon didn't know how to describe the sensation other than distinctively unpleasant. It was different from displeasure and annoyance that he had felt when he encountered Leech and Sicks. This time, the feeling ate at him, filling him with apprehension and anxiety.

.

"Dishrag," he commanded softly. "Tell me how to help you."

.

* * *

Yako gasped again. The pain was nearly intolerable. She felt like she was going to pass out any minute. She wanted to respond, to instruct him, to yell at him to get her to the nearest freaking hospital ASAP. However, every time she tried to open up her mouth, a new wave of pain would hit her, leaving her breathless and unable to speak. Each time her body spasmed, it felt like a thousand needles were impaling her in the stomach. Moreover, it hurts to even breathe. She hated this; she truly did. She hated how weak she must seem to Neuro, how perfectly helpless and inferior. Despite her very best efforts to reign in her emotions, she still couldn't stop her tears from falling or her pathetic whimpers from escaping her throat. It just hurt so damn much. She felt like a fucking child for god sakes from clasping on to Neuro's arms so desperately. But she couldn't let go, didn't want to let go. His presence and touch were the only things keeping her in the realms of consciousness right now. Hell would have to freeze over first before Yako would let herself faint into Neuro's arms like one of those damn heroines in a harlequin romance novel.

.

Where was Godai when you needed him? She could sure use his common sense as a human right now. Neuro, who was practically impervious to any attack and can heal perfectly well on his own, probably didn't know the first thing about hospitals and doctors or even basic first aid skills. They were all useless to him anyhow. If she couldn't talk, how was she supposed to communicate with him? She hissed in pain and annoyance as another spasm rocked her body. Writing him a message was pretty much out of the question as there were no paper and pen anywhere in their vicinity. On top of that, she very much doubted that she could write in her state. Her hands were still shaking uncontrollably. The painful haze she was experiencing was taking its toll on her mental capacities as well. Even thinking coherently hurt. Yako cursed her luck, or lack thereof. It was at times like this that Yako wished Neuro had some kind of demonic tool that allowed the two of them to communicate telepathically. Alas, fate was not on her side. It didn't help either that the hell spawn was pretty much blanching out in the situation. Yako was pretty sure that Neuro had never been in a situation where he had to help others alleviate pain. God forbid if he ever did such an unthinkable act since he enjoyed being the source of it so much. Again, Yako cursed both her bad luck and fate.

.

Hadn't she told him countless times before? There was no room for her in a battle between two monsters. But did the demon pay heed to her words? Hell no! He just acted as he pleased, dragging her into these dangerous situations without so much as a thought for her safety. Of course, with his damn male pride and ego, Neuro was overconfident in his ability to prevent her from sustaining heavy damage. His hunger always came first. And if her ability was needed in order to evaluate the enemy to unlock the puzzle, he would surely force her to go along with him no matter what the risk. As if that wasn't enough, he broke his damn promise! She had relied on him for protection. How could a teenage school girl possibly defend herself against a mad terrorist? Neuro should have known better! If Yako wasn't practically wallowing in agony right now, she would have promptly throttled Neuro, kicked him in the jewels a couple of times and maybe punched him as well for his insensitivity. She could not care less if Neuro killed her as a result. Yako was in too much pain as it was to reason logically. All she wanted to do right now was to curl up and die; taking Neuro down with her while she was at it. Idly, she wondered if dousing him in holy water would burn him like the movies suggested.

.

Suddenly, she felt a wriggle in her skirt pocket. Was that her cell phone? But cell phones didn't wriggle. Her senses addled, Yako wondered if she had become delirious. Then it hit her. Akane! She had completely forgotten about Akane up until now. Relief flooded through the young girl's body. Akane could text a message to Neuro! Surely, she would be able to give Neuro the right instructions.

.

With a shaky hand, Yako reached for her cell phone in her pocket and pulled it out. It dropped out of her hands as she lost control of her muscles, but that was enough. Then her vision swam as she slipped into a semi conscious state. She went slack into Neuro's arms.

.

Guess Hell did freeze over after all.

.

* * *

Akane flipped the cellphone open and hurriedly typed out a message on the screen: "GET THE INVESTIGATOR TO THE HOSPITAL YOU DOLT! SHE MIGHT DIE WITHOUT IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION!".

.

Events proceeded quickly after that. Neuro phoned the police to brief them about the situation and their whereabouts so that the boy could be arrested. As soon as the conversation ended, the demon took off at frightening speed towards civilization, the city, the hospital.

.

He didn't know of any hospitals other than Tokyo General Hospital. Occasionally, he and Yako would pass by the building on their way to a mystery. Akane had told him to call an ambulance but the demon had decided it would take too long. Human vehicles weren't exactly speedy, and for one to come out all the way to the countryside, it might be too slow. Neuro was uncertain how long it would take for an ambulance to reach them, but he was sure that time was a crucial factor in ensuring the survival of the woodlouse. So he had taken matters into his own hands by taking Yako to the hospital by himself. Besides, he felt more secure having the girl under his direct supervision.

.

"Akane, text Godai and tell him to be at the Tokyo General Hospital's Emergency Ward in five. Give him some information about Yako's condition too. She was crushed under fallen debris. She is pale, have trouble breathing and her body spasms involuntarily. It is quite possible that she had inhaled a minute amount of the poisonous gas as well." Neuro ordered calmly as he passed by buildings and forests at a dizzying speed.

.

Poisonous gas. The Hayasaka brothers had given him some details about it, hadn't they? What was compound called again? Tabun, the demon remembered now-a chemical agent so deadly for humans that it had been classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations. Extremely volatile, the gas can fatally interfere with the normal functioning of the human nervous system. Even in small doses, the substance was extremely toxic.

.

"Tell him that the poisonous substance is called Tabun. Have him call into the hospital ahead of time so they can prepare an antidote."

.

Landscapes blurred past him as Neuro rushed towards his destination. Giving the girl in his arms another quick glance, Neuro deemed that her condition hadn't worsen too much from a few minutes ago, but he increased his pace nevertheless. He wasn't about to give up on the dishrag he had worked so hard to polish into something valuable.

.

* * *

Godai was confused and anxious.

.

While he was in the middle of yelling at an employee over the phone,( fuck he was surrounded by incompetent idiots) his cell phone had rang. Annoyed, he had promptly ended his conversation with the employee with a "You better fucking get your act together" and checked his cell phone. Only the monster or that brat could contact him through this number. The assholes better not be phoning him about some shitty odd job. His temper was near its breaking point already. Godai had been surprised at first that he had received a text message instead of a call. However, the shock was incomparable to the one he felt after reading the message.

.

"Shit" he muttered as he dialed for the hospital before rushing out. That brat had better live.

.

* * *

Neuro finally arrived at the hospital. Yako's body temperature was dropping dangerously low and she was growing increasingly unresponsive. Approximately two minutes ago, she had stopped making any sounds but her body continued to spasm every now and then. She was still breathing but in short shallow gasps; breathing rate was slowing down and getting progressively weaker.

.

He rushed into the Emergency Ward. Easily spotting Slave number two, he made his way over to the ex-yakuza member who was shouting at a group of emergency hospital staff. Good, the brainless goof had at least enough common sense to understand the severity of the situation and had staff on stand by.

.

"Godai." Neuro called out, capturing the man's attention.

.

"There you are, Monster! How is-" Godai's sentence was cut off as his eyes took in the sight of Yako's frail and appalling form.

.

"Fucking hell.." The man whispered with incredulity.

.

The moment was broken however as the hospital staff rushed in to handle the situation. Yako was promptly torn out of Neuro's grip as they laid her down onto a gurney. A nurse stepped forward to asses Yako's situation

.

"She was crushed under rubble was it? Possible intake of poisonous substance Tabun?" The nurse inquired, her deft hands flitting all over Yako's body, applying pressure here and there as she checked for the girl's vitals.

.

Neuro only nodded as he watched, fascinated by the woman's efficiency and proficiency.

.

"This girl needs oxygen right away. Prepare Operation Ward III! We need to perform surgery on her immediately. She is showing signs of heavy internal bleeding. Get fluids ready as well. We don't want her to undergo acute renal failure if she's suffering from Rhabdomyolysis. Have the trauma team assembled now!" the nurse barked at the staff around her, "Get the antidote ready in the ward!"

.

As several staff rushed off to different parts of the ward, Yako was rushed to the operation room by several nurses. Godai and Neuro could only blindly follow the crew. Both of them had absolutely no idea what the nurse had just rambled about. They were stopped outside of the operating room, however, and told to wait outside in the hallway as the operation proceeded. The "Operating" sign flashed on in an ominous crimson shade over top of Operation Ward III.

.

* * *

The two males sat opposite of each other, unsure what to make of the situation. Since none of the staff had come to brief them on Yako's condition they could only wait in the hallway. Both of them were agitated; patience was not their best quality. Moreover, they couldn't help but feel pitifully useless. The whole situation was completely out of their control.

.

An awkward silence ensued, neither party wishing to talk about what had just transpired. For Neuro, it was an outright refusal to admit that Yako's state was partially his fault and his inexperience with this kind of situation that made him reluctant to speak. For Godai, it was confusion and restlessness about Yako's condition; he wasn't sure if he could say anything to improve the situation.

.

Both of them were broken out of their thoughts when two members of the police force came rushing in. Sasazuka Eishi and Ishigaki Jun appeared out of breath as they stopped right in front of the demon and the delinquent.

.

"How is Yako? I just heard about her and the terrorist incident. Is she alright?" Sasazuka asked hurriedly, catching his breath. Beads of sweat rolled off his forehead. He had rushed here right after he had heard over the intercom about the arresting of the terrorist and the injured piggish detective. Worry ate at him as he searched fervently for a good response from either of the two males that stood in front of him. Yako, who reminded him so much of his younger sister, should not have to encounter this kind of situation at all-at such a young and vulnerable age too.

.

"Senpai...you... really... didn't need to run this fast" The younger police officer gasped, hands on knees as he panted wearily. Although he had disliked the girl detective for always stealing Senpai's and his cases, he couldn't help but feel slightly anxious about her state. She had been a great help to the police, uninvited and unwelcome, but a great help nevertheless. She had never been injured despite all the dangerous cases she had taken on in the past. So it was quite a shock to hear that a criminal had harmed her critically.

.

"Sensei is being taken care off right now." Neuro stated with his innocent, goody goody boy facade plastered on to his face. He pointed to the operating room behind him.

.

"How bad is it?" Sasazuka inquired, concern evident in his eyes.

.

Godai, flustered by the appearance of federal heads, lashed out at the two. "What do you fucking care?" he growled.

.

Ishigaki, appalled by the brash behavior of the thug, snapped back indignantly, "Don't be so mean to Senpai! He's only worried!"

.

Both of them were ignored by their superiors.

.

Neuro knitted his brows into a frown as he tried to look worried. "Sensei's physical state is worrisome. Conditions uncertain. No one has come out to brief us on her situation yet." he divulged with a quiver in his voice.

.

"Ah I see." Sasazuka commented as he slipped into a solemn silence.

.

Suddenly, the persistent ring of a cell phone echoed through the hallway, shaking the older police officer from his daze. Swiping out his cell phone, he glanced at the screen, face distorting into slight annoyance.

.

"Damn, Usui's on my case already. Have to go." he sighed. "Let's go Ishigaki. Anyways, call me if something comes up. Here's my calling card."

.

After handing Neuro the card, the two police officers left in a hurry.

.

Neuro glanced at the card in his hands in distaste. He didn't like interacting much with the police. Usually, such mundane frivolities were left to Yako. It was irking him, the absence of his cover up and straight man character. Contact the man? Sasazuka would just have to find out about Yako's condition himself; Neuro was going to be no one's errand boy. Before the demon could ignite the card into flames, the piece of paper was ripped out of his grasp by Godai.

.

The delinquent tore the paper into shreds and threw the remains into the trash can. He even kicked the trash can for a good measure, not hard enough to topple it over but hard enough to make it totter slightly.

.

"Call the fuzz? Fuck no! I hate those damn bastards. Good for nothing assholes." Godai spat out angrily.

.

Neuro observed Slave Number Two's reaction with amusement. Now he can blame the apparent 'loss' of the card on Godai, how convenient.

.

* * *

After calming down from his outburst, Godai sat down on one of the benches again. He rested his head on the wall as he stared up at the ceiling, sighing. Wondering how long the operation was going to take, he cast a nervous glance to the double doors of the operating room. He didn't like the hospital's atmosphere; it reeked of antibiotics, death and sicknesses. The ex-yakuza member never thought that Yako would end up in a place like this. Although he was quite aware of the monster's daily torture on her, Godai would never have even guessed that such an outcome was possible. The mentally fucked up man sitting across from him always did manage to keep her safe on the numerous cases the two of them went on. It was quite surprising that today had turned out differently. The investigator and the monster had been on more dangerous cases before, like the HAL incident. It made no sense that she was hurt this severely now. Was the monster slipping? The brat was just a teenage girl for fucking sakes. Nothing like this should have ever happened to her. When Godai had first saw her, pale and sickly in Neuro's arms in the Emergency ward, his stomach had turned upside down. Anger and irritation suddenly boiled through Godai's veins. He glared at the man in front of him.

.

"Monster, what the fuck happened?" he demanded rudely.

.

Neuro offered him a look laced with annoyance. "Unforeseen complications ensued." was his clipped and frosty reply.

.

"Bullshit. You always managed to protect her before. What the fuck went wrong this time?"

.

"It's none of your business, Slave Number Two." Neuro countered sharply, eyes flashing .

.

"Of course it's my fucking business! The investigator is my boss as well! She's been hurt like this and you say it's none of my fucking business?! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

.

The demon decided to ignore the provocation, eyes sliding off to the side in disinterest, telling Godai in his own silent way that the conversation was over.

.

Godai was not to be that easily put off however, and persisted. His fist slammed the wall behind him.

.

"The brat is still a fucking child, a fucking girl. If you can't protect her on these kind of cases then you shouldn't take her along with you at all! As the man, you should have been able to protect her or die trying! That's your fucking responsibility!" Godai bit out angrily, pointing an accusing finger at the man in front of him.

.

Godai's breath was knocked out of him the very next second as Neuro punched him swiftly in the stomach. The gangster fell on his knees, kneeling forward as he tried to catch his breath.

.

Neuro crossed his arms and looked down at his disrespectful slave.

.

"I do believe that no one asked for your opinion, lowlife." Neuro stated with a menacingly innocent smile.

.

"You fucking bastard." Godai gasped, standing up slowly and regaining his balance. "If you continue like this I don't doubt for a second that the brat will leave you. No girls will ever stay with a man who can't protect them. It'll be your loss."

.

That caused a reaction within Neuro. He stared hard into Godai's eyes, daring him to say anymore. Godai stared back with an equally vehement glare, he was not going to let some incompetent bastard intimidate him, fuck no.

.

Electricity sparked in between the two men.

.

"Ahem." A female voice coughed, breaking up the tension in the hallway.

.

Both of the males swerved around angrily and glowered at the female that had so rudely interrupted their glare-off.

.

Not perturbed, the nurse looked at the clipboard in her hands, flitting through the various documents on it.

.

"So, Shinobu-san, you were the one who signed Katsuragi Yako in, am I correct?"

.

Godai relaxed slightly, maybe now they were finally going to get some news on Yako's progress.

.

"Yeah what about it?" he offhandedly asked.

.

"Had her parents or guardians been contacted at all about her situation?" the nurse inquired.

.

"Oh, er, no." Godai frowned slightly. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind to call the brat's parents. He didn't even know them, much less their phone numbers.

.

"Sensei's mother is out of the country at the moment. She has no other guardians." Neuro intervened with a cheery voice.

.

"I see. Then I guess one of the hospital staff will contact Katsuragi-san on her daughter's condition. Katsuragi-san is a regular patient as she often comes in at least twice a year for a medical check up. She had left her emergency contact numbers with the hospital. Alright. Thanks. I'll get right onto it."

.

With that said, the nurse turned on her heel and walked away.

.

"Hey! Hey wait!" Godai shouted after her. Wasn't she going to tell them about the brat?

.

"Yes Shinobu-san?" the nurse politely asked, facing them again.

.

"How's the investigator doing?"

.

"I'm afraid that I don't have any information on that Shinobu san. The ones who are most up to date on her condition are the ones in the operating room with her right now. When the operation is finished and the patient stabilized, the head doctor of the trauma team will inform you on Yako chan's condition. Until then you just have to wait patiently."

.

Godai swore softly under his breath. Man this was becoming a hell of a long day.

.

"Ah, I see. Thanks" he gruffly said, rubbing his neck tiredly.

.

"Glad to be of service. Best wishes to the detective. We handle our patients lives very seriously here Shinobu-san. You can be assured that she is in good hands. However, I cannot promise you anything." pronounced the nurse. She rounded off the corner and left the two men alone again in the corridor.

.

Godai sat down again and glanced at his bizarre boss who had already settled himself down on the opposite bench, eyes closed, appearing to be at rest. For some reason, Godai felt a lot calmer now. He had said what he wanted to say to Neuro. The ex-yakuza member was not going to take back a word he said; he felt was justified in his opinion. If anything, it was at least partially the monster's fault that the brat ended up this way. Godai huffed. There was still something he felt should get across to the monster for the kid's sake.

.

"Monster" Godai called out.

.

Neuro opened one eye and gazed at him impassively.

.

"I just want to make it clear. Although the brat may seem pretty tough since she manages to put up with you every day, she's still fragile and can break easily. You should be more considerate towards her, especially for her safety. She relies on you. Don't make her think that her faith in you is misplaced."

.

Other than closing his eye, Neuro gave no indication that he actually listened to Godai's advice. Godai wasn't irritated though by Neuro's lack of response . Since the thug hadn't been beaten to the ground just yet, it probably meant that the monster was giving what he had said some thought.

.

Having said all that he wanted to say, Godai closed his eyes and dozed off into a fitful nap. It was probably going to be a long wait. No point in fussing around. Everything was in the surgeon's and in God's hands now.

.

* * *

The sound of doors swinging open immediately awakened both males as they jumped out of their seats, highly alert. An elderly surgeon walked towards them. He was still wearing his surgery smock. Although, his gloves had been taken off and his hands were clean of blood, there were still some crimson streaks on his face and mask, as well as his garment. Normally, for both the gangster and the demon, the sight of blood hardly affected them at all, but knowing that it was Yako's blood staining the doctor's clothes was an unsettling thought for the both of them.

.

They waited impatiently for the surgeon to say something, anything.

.

Taking off his surgical mask, the doctor looked up at the gentlemen in front of him wearily.

.

"Well gentlemen, I have both some good news and bad news regarding our young tantei-san's physical state."

* * *

So we end the chapter off with another cliffhanger. This might become a guilty pleasure of mined at the expense of my reader's curiousty. Sorry to those who absolutely hate cliffhangers but in order to preserve the flow of the story I found it artistically necessary to stop the chapter there. Besides, it was getting too long and I was about to have a major brain implosion from writing so much ( 6 hours non stop that's how long it took me, I'm a bit slow).

For all those who are curious, yes all the ailments the nurse listed are very real for victims who have been crushed under rubble. I should know since I pretty much spent my Wednesday night researching on wikipedia. I wanted to ensure the credibility, realism and plausibility of the story so I took it on myself to snare as much information about emergency medical services and crush victims as much as possible.

The medical circumstances will be explained next chapter in detail so you can wait until then to figure out what the hell the nurse was talking about. However, if you wish to look into the situation more deeply and have a better and broader understanding of the topic. I have updated a list of articles that I researched on wikipedia for this chapter/story. Feel free to take a look

Also, I have added some new fanart and wallpaper that I drew/made on my profile. So if you wish to download/ use them feel free to but please don't claim them as your own and please give me credit if you decide to use any of them at all.

For those of you who wished for me to do a lemon prompt in response to my other fanfic "Hunger" please visit my profile for a quick update on the project's progress.

Again, please review! I appreciate them very much and need feedback for future chapters. Any suggestions, ideas, comments are welcome. Please don't hesitate to provide your input. I would love to hear how you wish the story to go. Cheers! Until the next chapter!

Hope you have enjoyed this one as much as I've enjoyed / slaved over writing it!


	6. Brooding Circumstance

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro. No profit has been earned off of this story. The story and the anime all belong to the talented mangaka Matsuei Yuusei.

Damn I was so pissed off yesterday ( Monday). I really had plans to update the chapter YESTERDAY. However, right when I was about to upload the chapter... my internet crashed on me. I didn't get internet connection for like ... I don't know... for at least 10 hours. So really, if you want to blame anything or anyone for this lateish update( according to my schedule) blame my crappy internet connection. I finished the chapter on Sunday night, beta readers somehow managed to correct it all within one night. Morning/afternoon came I woke up and was like yaaah I can upload the chapter now. Then the internet crapalooza happened.

Anyways, enough of my Angst ranting.

Note: Thank you Beta readers again for checking not only grammar and orthographic mistakes but for the flow of the story, characterization and plot too!

Fan Response:

**Hina A: **I'm glad that people are actually giving my fic a chance since I know the most popular category in almost any fandom is romance. I just wanted to do something completely different. ( Although I do very much love NeuroYako stories). I'm absolutely flabbergasted that my writing managed to spark some kind of emotional turmoil in my readers and that people can actually indulge themselves in this story. Really, I could ask for no better compliment. 'Author's ego give you its thanks' . Also, to answer your question, I'm following manga Neuro as closely as possible. In the anime the NEuro and Yako dynamic was twisted a bit as in both of them cared a bit more for each other than they did in the manga. Neuro is a lot more violent/assholeish in the manga.

**freakingcage7**: Thank you for your marathon of reviews! They were really a pleasant surprise! For the boy seeing the demonic side of Neuro part... well the thing is most of the criminals in the manga (the normal ones.. aka not Sai or HAL or Sicks) did not connect their err rather traumatic experiences with Neuro. They took it more as a figment of imagination. They did feel the full effects of the demonic tool that Neuro used but none of them made the connection. So I'm using the same concept with the terrorist in my story. Hope that makes sense?

**SoulessXWarrior: **Yes, I was first aware of the phrase "fuzz" from watching Gokusen Season 1( loved that drama it was hilarious). However, if you type the word 'police' on thesaurus. com, a synonym for it is also "fuzz". Just found it funny that had such a slang/gangsta word. Thanks for the review!

**Everyone else: **The chapter you have all been waiting for!

* * *

"Well let's start off with the good news first, shall we?" the surgeon suggested.

.

Godai swallowed nervously and nodded. Neuro gave the doctor an expectant look.

.

"She's alive, we have stabilized her for now. However, her condition is still considered to be critical"

.

"Is she going to be alright?" Godai asked, almost afraid of the answer.

.

"It's too soon to tell at the moment."

.

"I thought you said that Sensei is stabilized?" Neuro pointed out. His expression was a mixture of confusion and displeasure, demanding an explanation from the old man.

.

"Yako-chan has been stabilized in the sense that we have effectively stopped the internal bleeding and prevented further hypovolaemic shock from worsening her body condition."

.

The two men stared at the medical professional with a clueless expression.

.

"Err, sorry Doc but can you explain what you just said in simpler terms?" Godai questioned embarrassingly . None of what the doctor just said made sense to him at all.

.

Neuro found himself (dismayed at the horrendous thought)in the same mental position as Godai for once.

.

The surgeon sighed. "In that case, let's start from the beginning. I will try to use layman terms."

.

Both the demon and the ex yakuza nodded dumbly in agreement.

.

"Because Yako-chan was crushed under rubble, the severe pressure exerted on her soft tissues, especially her skeletal muscles, resulted in ischaemia or hypovolaemic shock. Both of these terms refer to decreased blood volume which leads to insufficient blood circulation to bodily tissues. This is a serious medical condition as it can trigger cell death in the body causing multiple organ failure, kidney damage and failure, brain damage, coma and sometimes death in severe situations. Thankfully, it seems that Yako-chan was not crushed for a prolonged period of time so her internal wounds were not that serious although she did suffer from an excessive amount of blood loss due to internal bleeding. We managed to reconnect the ruptured blood vessels and successfully stop the bleeding. She will need a blood transfusion due to the massive amount of blood loss from both the internal bleeding and the reparative surgery." The surgeon paused for a minute as he let both men digest what he had just said. "Got all that?"

.

When both men nodded a moment afterwards, the doctor continued.

.

"Also, due to the large scale of skeletal muscle damage, Rhabdomyolysis is a major concern. It is the rapid breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue due to injury to muscle tissue. This causes the release of the breakdown products of damaged muscle cells into the blood stream; one of these products is myoglobin. Myoglobin is usually filtered by the kidney, but is toxic to the organ in large amounts and so may cause acute renal failure. We are trying to prevent this development by pumping her body full of intravenous fluids both to deter the deposition of myoglobin in the kidneys and to ensure sufficient circulating blood volume. We are hoping that acute renal failure will not develop in Yako's case as she was administered quite swiftly. However, if renal failure does develop, usually one or two days after initial muscle trauma, we will take the appropriate measures to reverse the situation."

.

Taking a moment to recover his breath, the doctor cast another glance at the two men in front of him. They seem to be grasping what he said, albeit a bit slowly. He didn't blame them; the concept was a bit difficult and abstract to understand for the general public. When their attention refocused on him again, the surgeon resumed his explanation.

.

"Now that should just about sum up Yako's condition due to her physical injuries. If it was just physical trauma, her case would not be as worrisome. However, due to exposure of the poisonous substance tabun, her condition is complicated severely , not to mention relatively unstable. Tabun, like all chemical agents that affect the nervous system, is toxic even in small doses. Although, it is not as toxic when inhaled compared to other nerve agents, breathing in a lethal dosage can kill a human in one to ten minutes. If we look at the time elapsed from when she was exposed to the substance to the time she was administered the antidote, it was well over ten minutes so we can safely conclude that she was not exposed to a lethal amount. Most people who experience mild to moderate exposure to tabun can recover completely if treated almost as soon as exposure occurred. Unfortunately, in Yako-chan's case, immediate medical attention was not available after exposure. It remains uncertain if she will be able to make complete recovery."

.

The doctor let the information sink in for a while before he continued on.

.

"We have administered her an antidote to counteract the effects of the nerve agent. Due to ambiguity over the amount of tabun Yako-chan was exposed to, we believed a fast acting antidote called atropine was the best solution. However, this antidote is poisonous in its own right. It may save her life, but she will be incapacitated briefly or for an extended period of time depending on how her body takes it." he finally concluded with a solemn look.

.

Godai knew it might have been a stupid question, but he couldn't help but ask it again after what the doctor said. He just had to know.

.

"So is she going to be alright?"

.

The same question was on the tip of Neuro's tongue but he was glad that Godai had asked first. It saved him from expressing, well, whatever bothersome emotion he was feeling right now that he couldn't describe.

.

"Gentlemen," The surgeon started with a grave tone, " In emergency medicine, we have a term called the golden hour which is the first sixty minutes after the occurrence of multi-system trauma. A victim's chances of survival is greatest if they receive definitive care in the operating room within the first hour, after which time the survival rate for the patient declines dramatically. There is a golden hour between life and death. If you are critically injured, as in Yako-chan's case, you have less than 60 minutes to survive. You might not die right then; it may be three days or two weeks later -- but something has happened in your body that is irreparable."

.

The doctor lifted his head to make direct eye contact with both men.

.

"Yako-chan was indeed delivered to the hospital within the first 60 minutes and her physical trauma condition was quickly resolved. However, with the implication of tabun, that golden hour may have been shortened drastically to half an hour or less. The strain that her body is experiencing at the moment is overwhelming."

.

Taking a deep breath before delivering the next sentence, the doctor's expression turned grim.

.

"As it stands as of right now, there is a possibility-small but present nonetheless- that Yako-chan won't survive the next 24 hours."

.

The gravity of the situation hit both men like a ton of bricks. Godai sank into the bench as he wore an incredulous look on his face- he felt as if the ground underneath him had given away.

.

Neuro's eyes widened slightly in alarm, his ever calm composure wavered for a second.

.

A heavy silence ensued as each man took a moment to collect themselves.

.

Neuro was the one to break the silence this time.

.

"May we see sensei?" he inquired tentatively, as if afraid of overstepping some invisible barrier.

.

"I'm afraid that I can't allow that at the moment. Yako-chan needs a completely sterile and tranquil environment to speed up her healing process. Any external disturbances might result in unnecessary complications in her frail physical state. She is being closely monitored right now in our post anesthesia care unit. Yako-chan will stay in there for a few hours before being moved to the intensive care unit where she will also be closely monitored by hospital staff. I will be checking on her status throughout the night myself." pronounced the surgeon.

.

"When is the soonest that we can see her then?" Godai demanded, clearly upset.

.

"You may come around tomorrow afternoon. If her condition is stable, we may let you visit her."

.

Another uncomfortable silence fell over the hallway.

.

"Get some rest." the doctor advised the two after a moment, "Leave your contact numbers with the receptionist at the front desk. If anything happens, we'll be sure to inform you."

.

_'If she dies ' _was the unspoken phrase that hung in the air.

.

Neuro and Godai nodded distractedly in agreement, there was nothing else they could do.

.

* * *

Godai sighed to himself. What a stressful day it had been.

.

Who knew that death was lurking around someone he was close to again?

.

Except this time, the person could be saved from death's grip.

.

However, at the same time, he was as powerless now as he was back then to remedy the situation. God never played him good set of hands.

.

The ex-yakuza member had already dropped off his second boss at the investigator's office. The ride had been more awkward and stuffy than anything else. Both of them were still mulling over what the elderly doctor had said. As they were advised to, the two had left their contact numbers at the receptionist desk. Godai and Neuro had decided to rendezvous back at the hospital the next day at two in the afternoon. That is, if they don't get a call before then.

.

Now as Godai sat in the car, on a cliff overlooking the city, with a beer in one hand , and a cigarette in the other, he had never felt more torn between throwing his cell phone away and keeping it in his sight at all times. He hoped that no one will call him, but at the same time he did. The anticipation was killing him. He knew if that cell phone did ring, it would most likely be to inform him about the kid's death. Hope was a hard thing to kill though. Maybe, just maybe, he would get a call that told him the brat was going to be alright and that she was on her way to a speedy recovery.

.

Godai grunted. When had the kid affect him so much? She and Neuro had both played a part in turning his life upside down but at the same time righting it up. They were so paradoxical, the eccentric pair, the unfair combination of superiors. The monster who kept him in line from the outside and the brat who convinced him to stay under her wing from the inside. Life sure threw him some random cards.

.

He took a long drag from his cigarette, gazing at the scene before him. The sun was setting over the city. Everything looked so calm, so normal, like any other day. A vibrant palette of ruby, coral, and orange painted the sky. It was going to be a beautiful evening.

.

A beautiful evening where a teenage girl would be fighting for her life.

.

Godai brought the beer can to his forehead, the coolness of the drink container's metal soothed his troubled mind a bit.

.

"Kid," Godai muttered under his breath to empty air, "You will live."

.

A hollow comfort, one that will never reach the ears of the intended, but a comfort nonetheless.

.

* * *

Neuro entered the investigator's office. Everything was still in the same place as he had left them this morning. Nothing in the room reflected the dramatic course of events that had transpired over the past few hours that he had been gone.

.

Absentmindedly, he reattached Akane to her place on the wall, setting Yako's cell phone on her own desk. Akane had hidden herself from view as soon as she was returned to her place in the office. Neuro couldn't even see her signature bump in the wall that usually indicated her presence.

.

He waltzed over to the fax machine, checking for messages and letters , invitations to a meal. There were some, but he regarded him with disinterest. For some reason, his obsessive hunger wasn't occupying his thoughts as it usually did. He did have quite a mouthful today from the boy terrorist. The evil intent behind the puzzle was pure and delicious, enough to keep hunger at bay even if he does not consume anything for the next couple of weeks. It was just as well too. He would be unable to dine on anything of great sustenance with the maggot in the hospital. Acting without a cover up just won't do. What a distracting inconvenience his carelessness had brought upon his life.

.

Neuro sat down at his desk, swiveling his chair to face the window. He reclined languidly in his seat as he observed the human world with a set of keen eyes. The crowd of people on the streets were gradually thinning. Night was approaching; another busy day of school or work done with. They were all hurrying home or out on for a night with friends and coworkers. Such carefree mindless creatures.

.

At around this time too, Yako would have left for home.

.

Really, he hadn't meant for any damage to befall on the woodlouse . He had expected to have everything go his way , as they usually did without fault. The criminal, with the puzzle sucked out of them, were always either too powerless to move or would target him as their last ditch effort. They never saw Yako as a threat, mainly because he always made sure the attention was centered on him. The maggot always became a wallflower during the time he 'unlocked' the puzzles, barely noticed, barely acknowledged, barely there.

.

However, this time had been different.

.

Despite the fact Yako didn't interact with the boy at all other than condemning him with her usual phrase, like she did with all the other criminals, the boy had acted differently than all the others by choosing to aim for her instead. It was unannounced for on the demon's part. He never even thought of such an outcome.

.

Neuro's mouth drew into a grim line.

.

He had been too careless. He had let himself sink into the luxury of habit and habit was a dangerous thing. Now he was paying for his mistake.

.

He didn't like it at all.

.

The demon cast a glance at the unoccupied desk beside his, Yako's desk. Her cell phone looked so very out of place in the office without its owner. If it had been any other day, he would have taken apart the cellphone, eaten its puzzle and left Yako in despair with parts of her phone strewn about. Neuro could still take it apart and snack on the mystery that resided in the phone but the idea didn't seem all that appetizing without having the maggot's dramatic reactions to entertain him in the picture.

.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he recalled the conversation he had with Yako on the train.

.

"_I know that you can take care of yourself just fine but don't forget that I will be there too."_

.

He hadn't forgotten, it just never occurred to him that the criminal would remember. To forget is to forget to evolve. He had told her that hadn't he? It was the same as slowly dying. Eventually, one will become more helpless than a mouse if they forget- how to fly, to escape, to survive. As a demon, he never forgot anything he learned about or came in contact with. To forget would mean to give up his place in the natural order of things. Neuro refused to let that happen. His place in the food chain was at the top after all.

.

"_So you promise then?"_

.

He hadn't thought that he needed to give his word. Keeping her from harm was a routine, a task that was the unspoken rule. He couldn't very well function with a broken tool now could he? Both of them had been working alongside each other for so long now, protecting her for his convenience was second nature to him. The demon had never put much thought into the act, he was capable so he did.

.

He didn't need Slave Number Two to remind him.

.

"_If you can't protect her on these kinds of cases then you shouldn't take her along with you at all!"_

.

It wasn't that he couldn't protect her so of course he had taken her along. It was just that he had thought she was never in danger in the first place. An obvious miscalculation on his part that he could see now.

.

The demon frowned.

.

When had he started becoming so careless that he made miscalculations? With Yako, his blunders on conquering her were trivial, they didn't affect his real objective in the human world in the least. However, it did seem that she was always the wild card in his deck. Most of the time she acted as he expected her to, but there were those rare times where she managed to surprise him. Then the demon remembered that it was because of this odd trait of hers that he had wanted to lay claim to her in the first place.

.

"_No girl will ever stay with a man who can't protect her."_

.

What Godai had said struck a nerve within him as the statement had so contravene what the demon had been trying to accomplish these past few months. It annoyed Neuro to think that one mindless slip up on his part could work against him so much.

.

He gazed hard at Yako's empty seat. What would it be like if she refused to set foot in here again? Or if she could not?

.

Even for Neuro's brilliant mind, the idea took a few minutes to process before a conclusion was reached.

.

To start off, it would be troublesome as he would need to start all over again with a new person, another dishrag. It would be very time consuming. Yako didn't evolve to where she currently stood in one night, it was a gradual development. It would be very energy consuming. He had spent so much energy disciplining the woodlouse. Although it had been fun, the demon didn't look forward to repeating the long process. He was comfortable with the cloth he had now. Creatures tend to lean towards the familiar. The demon could relate.

.

The possibility of starting anew without Yako.

.

The future appeared so very dull and uninteresting to the demon then.

.

* * *

So yah! End of chapter. This time it's not so cliffie? ( Well I don't think it is) Anyways, next time we will see Yako! I just wanted to wrap up the "day" with this chapter. Next chapter is the whole new day! Neuro and Godai go patient visiting Hoorah!

Hope that I didn't lose anyone with the medical explanation. I did try very hard to make it simple to understand yet professional sounding at the same time. I apologize if anyone couldn't understand it at all. So very sorry!

I'm not exactly satisfied with this chapter. I think I should have added some more on Neuro's part of the story but I couldn't think of anything else to kinda 'study' or 'extend' so I just left it at that. Hope that the characterization didn't get out of sorts as a result.

Again, please review! I appreciate them very much and need feedback for future chapters. Any suggestions, ideas, comments are welcome. Please don't hesitate to provide your input. I would love to hear how you wish the story to go. Cheers! Until the next chapter!


	7. Vengeful Circumstances

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro. No profit has been made off of this story. The story and the anime all belong to the talented mangaka Matsuei Yuusei.

Now that the disclaimers are out of the way...

I'm SORRY!! I didn't think that it would take me this long to write Chapter 7. Blame writer blocks and err erratic vacationing/traveling schedule. Oh, and lack of internet connection. That too was one of the top contributors to the belatedness of my update. Nevertheless, I finished it and now the long awaited chapter is finally up. -Celebrates and dances around-

Thank you for all of the people who have reviewed my story so far. As always your support, criticism and comments are much appreciated and well loved. -hugs- I was blown away by the number of people who reviewed for the last chapter. Moreover, with 's new tool "Reader Traffic" I was furthermore shocked to see the many different countries my readers hail from. It is truly an honour! Words can't express how happy that makes me feel.

Note: Thank you as always to all my beta readers who helped with proofreading the story. They all managed to send it back to me within one day with their corrections. Astounding work!

Fan Response:

**vesperilia-kiss: **Thank you for your lovely comment and yes I did do all the research for the chapters by myself. For my chapter end notes I remember mentioning that there are links to the articles that I used for the past few chapters. So, if you're interested, check out my profile to get the links. Happy researching!

**mirelleway: **OMG YES! PLEASE DO DRAW A FANART FOR MY STORY! I would love you to pieces! I think I have the support of all MTNN fans when I say that there NEEDS to be more MTNN fanart! Especially Neuro ones or Neuro and Yako ones or just MTNN in general! If you do ever finish the fanart please provide me a link for it? I would love to check it out !

**Hin A.:** As always, you blow me away with your long response. I'm not sure if I thought that deeply into my own story. However, yes, you have quite a good grasp of the situation I'm trying to convey. I'm very pleased that people actually find my story analyzable ( not a word, I know ). You can probably guess by now that my story has quite a bit of drama to it... that's how I like it and that's how it will stay. Besides, it forces BOTH characters to evolve. Hope you stick around for a lot longer!

**Everyone else: Thanks for all the encouraging reviews! Now on to Dominance Chapter 7! **

* * *

Godai nearly growled at the poor innocent receptionist lady. She didn't do anything wrong, of course; he was just in a very, very bad mood. Last night, the sandman had decided to take a trip to the corner store, leaving Godai to count beer bottles on the wall in vain. The result? An extremely cranky Godai looking for every single damn reason to kick the world's sorry ass today. His temper was even shorter than usual, and that was saying a lot. To make matters worse, the monster wasn't helping in the least. If anything, Neuro only eagerly tossed more fuel to the fire. Even under such gloomy circumstances, like the possible death of a colleague, the bastard still managed to remain happily sadistic. Verbal abuse was on the rise today. Godai would have countered some of them if it wasn't for the fact that his already dead brain was running on even deader (A/N: Yes. I know that's not a word) brain cells. In the end, he settled for setting his infamous you-better-drop-dead-dipshit glare on any individual unlucky enough to cross his path that day to vent his frustrations– except for Neuro. The ex-yakuza did not want to interact with the root of all evils more than minimally necessary.

.

He and the monster were already at the hospital. As usual, Godai had been threatened in one way or another into punctuality-another reason why Godai was not a happy camper today. The man sighed as he tried to contort his expression to one that was not so murderous. Asking to visit an ailing patient while looking like you wanted to strangle everyone in sight (even if you really felt like it) was not a smart move. He had enough sense to recognize that much despite the pathetic state of his mental capacity at the moment.

.

"Excuse me; can you direct us to Katsuragi Yako's room? We're her co-workers." Godai gritted out with a forced smile. He tried to look pleasant, he really did. However, all he accomplished was a rather maniacal bloodthirsty grin.

.

"R-r-right away sir. I'll just get Nurse Shelly here to take you to the detective." the poor girl behind the counter squeaked out nervously before calling out to a lady dressed in pink scrubs. "Nurse Shelly! Please direct these gentlemen to Yako Katsuragi; they are her friends who came to check up on her."

.

The nurse looked up from her clipboard at the two men standing in front of the counter, eyes lighting up in recognition.

.

"Shinobu-san! It's good to see you!" she chortled.

.

Godai winced at her cheery voice. Cheerfulness and fatigue addled brain did not go well together at all. He squinted at the woman trying to figure out why she was acting so familiar with him. Then it hit him. This was the same nurse that interrupted his and Neuro's glare-off the day before. Now he had a name to go with the face.

.

"Hey th-" Before he could finish, Godai somehow found himself eating the bleached, antiseptic and decontaminated floor of the hospital.

.

"My, my Godai-kun, you really are way too clumsy. How EVER did you survive in society?" a mocking voice all but snickered above him.

.

That fucking asshole. Did that bastard know just how much chemical crap they sprayed on these floors? The monster might as well have shoved a fucking can of spray paint down his throat.

.

Godai was about to lash out at said asshole when he found himself eating the dangerously clean floor again.

.

"I do apologize, Nurse Shelly. My co-worker here is really just not that bright. We believe that he had always been a bit slow... if you know what I mean."

.

An exasperated sigh and then a resounding clap of hands.

.

"Anyways, on to more important matters! We are so very very eager to see Sensei. It was just so nerve wrecking to think that we might have lost her!"

.

A disgustingly pathetic attempt at a whimper came from the man who was currently keeping Godai down with a well planted foot to the rebel's head.

.

"Oh, I see... Well let's be on our way then. Are you sure Shinobu-san is okay though? The floor isn't exactly the healthiest thing to eat."

.

"He's fine! Really! He eats a lot worse on a daily basis. He had always been a peculiar one with a strange taste." the sinisterly sweet voice chortled.

.

The nurse, not knowing quite how to respond to that comment, decided to brush it off all together. "Alright then, follow me gentlemen."

.

Immediately, Neuro trailed after the nurse, leaving his second slave lying on the ground.

.

With the pressure taken off his head, Godai picked himself up slowly and stalked behind the nurse and the demon. His mood just hit an all time low.

.

Everyone within a ten meter radius could sense his killer aura. To say the least, there were surprisingly less patients than usual in the hospital. They all seemed to have magically disappeared within a span of minutes.

.

* * *

The trio stopped outside room 1206.

.

"Here we are. Now, I must advise you to be extremely quiet. Yako-chan is doing well but she's still in a very frail state. Any unnecessary disturbances might prolong her healing process. Hushed talking is fine. Oh and all cell phones and electronic accessories must be turned off. The signals might disrupt the machinery. That can result in near fatal consequences for Yako-chan. So please turn off any electronic devices you might have with you." Nurse Shelly ordered.

.

Both the hell spawn and the ex-yakuza fished out their mobile phones and turned them off in front of the nurse. Satisfied, Nurse Shelly opened the door, allowing the two men to enter.

.

The constant monotone beeping of the machines greeted the company as Neuro and Godai were treated to the sight of Yako looking hopelessly weaker than she had last night. Unbelievably pale, the girl looked more dead than alive. There were numerous tubes and needles attached to her small physical frame. Godai didn't think that it was possible to have that many on a person.

.

"Hey nurse. Why does the brat have so many tubes sticking out of her?" He half whispered. Staring at Yako lying there, looking so vulnerable, so weak, made his stomach sick.

.

"Well, Shinobu-san. We have to pump Yako-chan full of intravenous fluids in order to ensure sufficient circulating blood volume and to prevent acute renal failure. I'm sure the head doctor had informed you about that. Several of the tubes or catheters as we call them, are used to monitor her pulses and her breathing rate. One of those catheters administers a constant controlled dose of painkiller to her. Without it, Yako-chan would be in horrible pain. Also, we are currently feeding her body essential nutrients via catheters. She is in no state to consume solid or liquid food. The poor girl probably can't eat anything for a while. Most people will feel nauseous for the first few days after a surgery is performed and vomit out anything they take in. She will probably lose a lot of weight." the nurse informed in a sad tone.

.

Neuro, who had moved to Yako's bedside and had been studying her state closely, lifted his head up at the nurse's last comment.

.

"Yako can't eat?" Neuro inquired, voice laced thickly with disbelief.

.

"It's only temporary" Nurse Shelly assured quickly. "Although the patient might feel very hungry, their body will be in no way malnourished."

.

"I don't think that's what he meant, nurse. For the brat, taking away her ability to eat is the same as taking away her reason to live. Probably. The girl is like that. She could eat a whole skyscrapers worth of food in one sitting if she was allowed to." Godai offhandedly commented. No doubt about it-this ordeal will be tough on Yako for sure. She was the very definition of gluttony. "By the way, is the brat going to be okay? I can't tell. She looks half dead as it is."

.

"Well, I can't deny the fact that her state is still critical. The best thing Yako-chan has going for her right now is that she's still young. Her body will be able to recover a lot faster and her immune system is a lot stronger. She's pretty much in the prime of her life. So far, her body has responded positively to the treatment. If everything goes smoothly, she might just make complete recovery. That's what we're all hoping for. Of course, it's still too early to put our hopes up. The hospital staff is taking extra measures to be as careful as they can when handling her."

.

The nurse paused for a while and studied the two men since neither of them responded. The more eccentric of the two was gazing at the young girl with a scrutinizing look , as if evaluating her. Godai was just staring at the detective forlornly as if unsure what action to take.

.

"Well, I'll leave you two for a while. If you decide to leave, be sure to tell the front desk. If you have any more questions just ask one of the nurses around; they'll be glad to help. Visiting hours end at 8pm. You are free to stay until then." With that said, the nurse exited the room quietly.

.

Godai stared at Yako in quiet contemplation for a while longer. He was glad that the brat managed to survive the night however she must be in tons of pain right now. There were just so many needles and tubes- the sight made him queasy. He let out a frustrated sigh and glanced at the other man on the opposite side of the bed.

.

"We should leave. She needs the rest. We'll only be disturbing her if we stay any longer." Godai said.

.

No response.

.

The ex-yakuza quirked his eyebrows. For once, the monster decided to keep his trap shut. If the maniac didn't want to leave, that's fine. However, Godai was determined to go. He didn't like the hospital or staring listlessly at Yako's current state. So he turned and started to make his way to the door.

.

"If you want to stay that's fine, but I'm go-" For the third time that day, Godai found himself sprawled embarrassingly on the hospital floor.

.

Godai's fuse blew. "WOULD YOU FUCKIN-" The rest of his rather vulgar sentence was cut off however, as he found three wrapped onigiris suddenly stuffed in his mouth.

.

"Do be quiet slave number two. Or has your microscopic brain already forgotten what the nurse just instructed not too long ago?" Neuro crouched down and flashed Godai an amused snarl.

.

Godai spat the food into his hands. "What are you fucking doing?" He hissed in a considerably quieter voice.

.

"You, slave number two," A middle finger pointed at Godai. "are going to stand watch over your fellow slave. Call me as soon as she shows signs of consciousness."

.

Godai shot his second boss a crazy look." What? Why the heck would I do that?" he all but sputtered.

.

The demon immediately put on an innocent hurt facade.

.

"You won't do it?" To complete the look, Neuro quivered his lips for a full effect.

.

The ex yakuza was rendered speechless as he found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. That rhetorical question coming from the monster in THAT manner never failed to scare him shitless.

.

Satisfied with slave number two's lack of objection, Neuro headed out the door.

.

Stopping at the doorway, the demon spoke with his back to his lowly subordinate. "Now, I have some business to take care of. If you take a step out of this room ... well, there have been some toys of mined that I had been wanting to try out... and since Yako isn't available..." The rest of the sentence was left unsaid but Godai had a pretty good idea what was going on in Neuro's mind.

.

He didn't need to see his boss's face to know that he was silently cackling.

.

The door shut after the demon with a resounding click.

.

Looking back at the young teenager girl lying on the hospital bed behind him, the gangster sighed wearily. He pulled up a chair beside her as he placed his ration for the day on the bedside table. Godai's eyes twitched in annoyance as he glanced at the onigiris with vehemence. Seriously, what was with the monster and onigiris? Couldn't that bastard try hamburgers and fries for once?

.

Refocusing his attention on Yako, Godai wondered just how long he would have to wait for her to wake up or if she would wake up at all today. The young detective looked eons away from regaining consciousness. Even if she did wake up, Godai had no interest in keeping her awake; he would probably tell her to just go straight back to sleep. She needed it more than anything else right now. Having her see the monster right after a slight recovery probably wasn't the smartest idea either. Knowing Neuro, he would contribute more harm than good to Yako's recovery. Idly, the ex yakuza member considered disobeying his insane boss for Yako's benefit.

.

That idea was quickly forgotten as a wave of fatigue washed over Godai. It appeared that his lack of sleep had finally caught up to him. Yawning loudly, he made himself comfortable in the chair. Yako wasn't going to wake up any time soon from the looks of it so a little shut-eye wouldn't hurt.

.

Within seconds, Godai nodded off.

.

* * *

It was bright, so very bright.

.

The young boy confined in the cell hissed in annoyance as he paced around his padded cell. His ideal environment was dark, secretive, and humid. This room was the exact opposite of his ideal. All the blaring lights seem to glare at him, exposing him to the rest of the world. He hated this place and his current situation. If everything had gone according to his calculations, the chance of him getting arrested by the police was 0. Unfortunately, he had not taken the famous teenage detective into his calculations. Curse her and her bizarre assistant. If it weren't for their rather unprecedented, rude and above all, unwelcome appearance, his most intricate and brilliant scheme would have been carried out. It would have shaken the world. No other terrorists would have been able to accomplish what he did. His name would have been feared and revered in every corner of the world. Even the greatest of the nations would quake under his threat. His plan, his beautiful plan, had been crushed and ripped from him at the very last moment. The bitter taste of failure was almost too much to bear.

.

Anger, disappointment, loathing and frustration coursed through his veins. All these years, all the plans, all his efforts went up in a smoke in one decisive moment! Now, he knew how to hate for he hated everything about the girl detective- her presence, her history, her fame, her _existence_. Well, to be fair, something had been done about _that_. The boy allowed himself a vicious sneer as he stopped his frenzied pacing. At least, at the very least, he had made sure she paid for her intrusion. Whether it was with her blood or life he didn't care. He wanted her to suffer badly so that she would know. She would know exactly how he felt when he realized that his dreams had been cheated from him.

.

Yes, Katsuragi Yako will suffer infinitely and he will take joy in knowing that fact. It was too bad that she didn't die though. Such a pity. By some miraculous forces, she had somehow managed to survive not only the blast, but the poison as well. The girl should thank her lucky stars-for now. There will be a time in the future for him to finish the job properly. He will make sure of it. After all, he had all the time in the world to plan out revenge.

.

The boy cackled in delight as a scheme started to take form in his mind.

.

"You seem to be awfully happy for someone who had just been put away. Care to share the reason for your mirth? I might spare a sympathetic ear since you are about to pay for your crimes _dearly._" A dark voice boomed out from above the boy.

.

Suddenly, the white room was encased in darkness and an eerie chill settled in. Whirling around wildly, the boy tried to make sense of it all while trying to find the owner of the voice at the same time. However, the mysterious darkness hid everything from his view. A cold feeling washed over him and froze his very heart. If he didn't know better, he would say that he was being observed-much like how a predator would observe its prey before ensnaring it in its jaws.

.

"Who's there?!" he yelled out into the gloom. Hearing his own voice calmed him down somewhat. So he shouted again. "Show yourself!"

.

"My, what insolence from such a pathetic creature. Clearly, you don't know your place. I do believe that some lessons on manners are long overdue." The same ominous voice sneered. "Luckily for you, I have time to kill. To be fair, it was all thanks to you. So you may take this as a token of my gratitude."

.

A pair of iridescent acid green eyes glowed from amidst the blackness.

.

"Let's get started shall we?"

.

The boy was too shocked and terrified to respond. He could only stare back at those frightening eyes in daze.

.

"777 Tools of Hell: Evil Smog!"

.

A green mist emerged from the darkness and crawled over to the boy slowly, surrounding him.

.

"H-hey..wha-?" spluttered the boy in confusion. Then he found out he couldn't talk anymore as his nose, skin and eyes flared up in pain. His eyes watering and nose clogging up, the boy fell to his knees, keeling over in agony. Everything burned. It felt as if someone was holding him over a bonfire and letting the flames lick him all over. He didn't know where to shield; the silent assailant attacked him from all corners. Even if he covered his eyes, his skin felt like it was melting, stretching, and tearing. But his eyes! Oh his eyes! They were being scorched! He was sure of it. Even underneath closed eyelids, he could feel the blistering heat ripping apart and eating away his sight.

.

He screamed and screamed and screamed -out of terror, out of horror, out of excruciation and out of desperation.

.

But nobody could hear him except for the glowing eyes and they only leered at his misery.

.

The last thing the boy remembered hearing was the sound of diabolical laughing before he sank into the depths of hell for this must surely be hell.

.

It could be nothing else.

.

* * *

In Godai's dream world, he was a free man again. No insane maniac to bother him, no odd end jobs to carry out, no retards to deal with, it was just him and his good friends Asahi and Pachinko. It was Godai's own happy bubble. However, all good things must come to an end as his dream indefinitely did. He, however, had the good luck to wake up to Yako's feverish and vulgar ranting.

.

At first, the ex yakuza made a beeline for the door to get a nurse, thinking that Yako was going crazy and dying from the fever. However, as his sleep fuddled brain made out the exact content of her speech, he sat right back down and waited eagerly for the next onslaught. It was too good of a moment to pass up or ruin by calling in a nurse, much less Neuro. No, he was going to keep this little moment all to himself to laugh over at a later date. He had a good reason to too.

.

"N-n-neuro you f-f-f-fucking bastard. I'm going to …slaughter you.. then b-butcher you. Then re-e-epeat the process a few billion times so that… y-y-you'll be all nice and tender. Then I'm going to sell you at the next world exhibition. Y-y-yeah I'll make tons of money… g-genuine demon minced meat! Then I'll s-s-sale exclusive rights to McDonalds! "

.

Although Godai didn't understand the demon part, his mood lightened drastically as the thought of Neuro minced meat crossed his mind. What a great idea! Really, he had no idea that the little bugger could be so brilliant.

.

"I'm going to s-s-shove that ridiculously b-b-b-linged out scarf of yours so far u-p-p-p your ass, that you'll be sh-sh-shitting out diamonds for a week-k-k!"

.

Was Yako always this vulgar? He must be rubbing off on her. Godai made a mental note to _try_ watching his language around her in the future lest the evil bastard blamed him and gave him hell for it.

.

"I-I –I will take all your hellish offsprings… and and and.. make omelets and custard tarts with them. I'll t-t-tie you to a fucking stake and h-have you watch me slowly devour your babies. I'll even ship the ones I c-can't finish… t-t-to… KFC and McDonald's chicken nuggets farms. H-eh-heh. They will be b-b-beakless and be the most ab-b-bused animals in the world."

.

Okay, that was a bit morbid and slightly disturbing. The fever must really be affecting the brat's brain. She was confusing babies with chicks.

.

" O-o-one day when you are un-a-aware and in d-d-demon form ...I'm g-g-oing to pluck you clean and deep fry b-b-batter you. T-then take your horns and ...m-m-m-make spoons and chopsticks out of them... then s-s-sell them to the Hay-y-yasaka brothers for m-m-millions!"

.

Well at least she was damn amusing and creative despite the fact she was spurting nonsense. The girl had great imagination.

.

Godai couldn't hold it in anymore, it was all too amusing. He opened his mouth as a loud guffaw made its way up his throat.

.

Unfortunately, Godai would have to save his guffawing till later as in one split second his chair was taken from under him and he was kicked to the ground... for the **fourth fucking** time. The ex yakuza had a pretty good idea of the individual responsible. The laughter died before it even started as Godai's mood was sullied again.

.

"Slave, did I not _instruct _you to _call_ me as soon as the louse showed signs of consciousness?"

.

Godai gritted his teeth in frustration as he yelled at the bastard. "She's still sleeping damnit! She's only sleep talking! It's a side effect of fever sometimes!"

.

"Excuses, excuses. Maybe you didn't hear me clearly the first time. Shall I clean out your ears for you?"

.

A long sharp pointy object that vaguely resembled a ear pick was dangled in front of Godai.

.

"This should work perfectly don't you think? It will get out ALL the clutter."

.

Before Godai could respond or Neuro could carry out his threat, they were both interrupted by a groan from Yako.

.

The racket the two had caused had woken her up.

.

Neuro swiftly knocked Godai unconscious by slamming his head into the ground and made his way to Yako's bedside.

.

* * *

Yako wearily opened her eyes as she regained her senses. It was difficult; her eyelids seemed set on staying shut. However, she persisted and managed to keep them from closing

.

Her vision swam as she focused on the blonde and purple haired bright blue blob at her bed side. Even if her sight was horribly blurry, Yako had no doubts about who exactly was standing beside her.

.

"You!" Yako snarled.

.

Her head was pounding painfully against the confine that was her skull. It felt like tiny Neuros had invaded her brain and were trying to sledgehammer their way out.

.

"For every second you're alive, I shall kill you." Yako painfully bit out with as much of a glare she could manage in her dizzy and nauseous state.

.

As Yako had come to realize, morphine did wonders to a person's bravery-although whether the effect was to make them too dumb to recognize impending doom or to really enhance their self-esteem and confidence she was unsure.

.

* * *

HA! Neuro! You got beotch-slapped in the face by Yako!

Ok I exaggerate but Yako is finally taking a stand against Neuro! Ignoring the fact that she is slightly ( VERY) drugged and not in the right sense of mind or making any logical sense... Yako is totally kicking a!

Anyways, hope you have all enjoyed this chapter that I finally managed to finish up. It was quite fun writing the last part so I hope that all of you enjoyed it too.

Again, please review! I appreciate them very much and need feedback for future chapters. Any suggestions, ideas, comments are welcome. Please don't hesitate to provide your input. I would love to hear how you wish the story to go. Cheers! Until the next chapter!


	8. Bickering Circumstances

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro. No profit has been made off of this story. The story and the anime all belong to the talented mangaka Matsuei Yuusei.

Oh dear god, I apologize profusely to my readers who have been waiting ages for this chapter to come out. I have kept you all waiting so long that I wouldn't be surprised if most of you have forgotten about this story and moved on. (and I wouldn't blame you) My deepest apologies. A mix of university and writers block were the key perpetrators for the long unforeseen wait. I actually started on this chapter pretty much right after the last one but haven't been able to finish it till now.

I do thank you kindly for all the kind reviews that I've received. They were truly encouraging and did ( eventually) managed to get me off writer's block. With the summer coming, I do expect myself to update more often and possibly finish up that M fic of mined.

Also, as a treat for waiting patiently so long, I'll let the readers on a little tidbit. I've already pretty much finished planning the story for Dominance. The end is far away ... but still foreseeable. There will be a lot more laughs, tears, drama, violence and pure good ol wickedness to come before the end.

But worry not, I DO plan on writing a sequel for Dominance. Totally different storyline. Will possibly be AU ( seeing how the current MTNN storyline is going). It will probably be a lot of fun to write. I have already started on the first chapter of it ( a byproduct of my crazy eagerness ). I won't tell you much except that the main setting for the story will be Neuro's hometown. :) Oh the things to look forward to.

Now, without further ado, .... ON TO THE MAIN STORY!

* * *

Neuro blinked.

.

This surely wasn't the reaction he was expecting from the wood louse after 24 hours of a self induced coma. When had she become so rebellious? Did intense pain really caused humans to become delusional? He let the thought of lengthening her hospital stay and putting her into the critical ward again waft across his mind for a few seconds before dismissing it. Hurting her right now would only make his life more problematic. He needed the maggot to be on her feet again as soon as possible if he wanted to dine on this world's countless delectable mysteries. Neuro _almost_ sighed in annoyance. Yako is a necessary tool and a crucial part in his plans . The demon actually _**needed **_her-even if it was only to deliver one line and to smile in front of the cameras. As ridiculous and foreign as the thought was to Neuro, he had to admit that without her ability to gauge the opponent's behavior, abilities and mind, solving puzzles was becoming increasingly difficult, especially on high profile cases. Punishment can wait until after the rag has recovered completely. He would take his sweet time then to remind her to never _**ever **_talk back to her master.

.

So how exactly do you get back at a disobedient slave that you can't touch?

.

Easy, attack them where it hurts-verbally.

.

"You have to eat through tubes." The demon jeered, completely ignoring Yako's previous statement.

.

Yako narrowed her eyes at Neuro and attempted to impale crosses into him with her glare. How dare he! This was all his friggin' fault to begin with.

.

"Fuck you." She growled. If she could, she would have thrown a bucket of holy water on his ego bloated head. Maybe he'll react to it just like how the Wicked Witch of the West reacted to water. She could just imagine his deep voice going decibels higher, screeching all the way till he's reduced to nothing but a puddle of demon crap that he was so obviously made of. Too bad, she didn't have a bucket within her reach.

.

So what do you do when others are jabbing at you where it hurts?

.

You egg them on by bullshitting them,of course.

.

"You're going to wish that you never uttered those words when I get through with you." Yako snarled , looking as menacing as she possibly could with tubes stuck all over her body, pale to the point you could mistake her for a dead person and physically weakened to the point she could barely move her body.

.

Let's not forget as well, things aren't always as easy when the person you're bullshitting is a demon- a demon with a finely tuned bullshit detector much less. Not to mention, he's pedestals above you in both intelligence and strength.

.

Damn.

.

....................

.

The demon only snickered in amusement. It was pathetic really, the wood louse's attempt at defiance. He had been threatened by the worst of mankind. All of whom, couldn't leave so much as a mark on his body even when armed with impressive weaponry of every kind. So what can a sickly wounded girl do?

.

-Absolutely nothing that's what.

.

"Is that so dishrag? Care to enlighten me on how you'll 'get through with me'?", Neuro leered, leaning down so that he was at eye level with Yako. He took out his claws and placed them almost tenderly on the tube that was administrating her painkiller.

.

Shoot, how was she going to bullshit her way out of this one? Panic rose in the girls throat as she tried to pull something from her mind that will actually force the demon to take her seriously. It wasn't helping her nerves that his claws look oh so sharp on the fragile plastic tube that was keeping her in the realm of sanity and slight wooziness at the moment.

.

Her brain was near the point of shutting down when a light bulb suddenly went off in her head. Mentally breathing a sigh of relief, the girl turned her attention back to her demented boss and not too gently warned him :

.

"I'll take my hands off that tube if I were you buster." Yako growled, throwing an onigiri that she had found on her bedside table in the monster's general direction as she did so. ( It missed by a lot, but hey, it was a miracle that she could even move her arm in the first place. Much less, with enough force to throw food.) On second thought, how did onigiris get on her bedside table? She couldn't eat, that much she knew from Neuro's non too gentle remark. So who was it for?

.

_Nevermind that girl, concentrate on the task at hand: Operation Kick Neuro's Ass. _Yako's brain reminded her.

.

Right, there were more pressing issues to deal with here- such as a demon who was about to meet his maker.

.

Yako's blatant provocation caused Neuro's eyes to widen slightly in surprise. What in the world had the wood louse come up with this time? Surely she wasn't idiotic enough to think that, being retarded and weak as she was, she could defeat a great and powerful demon from the underworld did she? He was a man who has endured and conquered the hellfire of the underworld. Not only that, he had eaten all of hell's mysteries. If the maggot thought that she could best him, then she had truly reached a level of unparalleled stupidity.

.

Neuro did a double take as an onigiri whizzed past him-several centimeters away but whizzed past him nonetheless. The slave had the audacity to throw something at her own master!

.

He threw a furious glance at her-the kind that would make even the most hardened of criminals break into tears- only to find himself taken back by the expression on his slave's face.

.

The woodlouse was smirking at him smugly as if she had already been deemed the victor. Confidence and a slight hint of maliciousness glinted in her eyes in a way that reminded Neuro much of himself.

.

Despite his better sense of judgment, Neuro observed the girl warily. Maybe the poison had infiltrated her brain and he had better be on his guard for anything blindly stupid that she might throw at him.

.

"I'll starve you to death."

.

Oh hell no.

.

Now, even for a demon as fair and thoughtful as he was, there was no way that Neuro would let such a threat just slip by. It bordered dangerously on something the little whelp could succeed in. He was furious, no, enraged, that his underling would even dare make such a suggestion. It was unheard of. He would be the laughingstock of the underworld if other demons found out that he complied to even one of his slave's wishes. If the brat thought that he would listen to her, she was deadly wrong. Fire burnt in Neuro's eyes as hundreds of torture scenes flashed through his mind. He'll teach her never to be insolent again! He took a purposeful step towards Yako with murder written in his eyes.

.

For a moment, Yako wondered if she had just welcomed death with open arms.

.

Before further damage could be dealt though, Nurse Shelly chose at that moment to enter the room. The nurse stopped in her tracks as soon as she lifted her eyes up from her clipboard. The scene that greeted her eyes was most peculiar-one unconscious and drooling Shinobu- san on the floor, a stray onigiri laying just a few feet away from her, a quite murderous looking assistant, and an equally livid and conscious Yako-chan.

.

A moment of tense and awkward silence ensued as the three conscious individuals observed each other warily.

.

Nurse Shelly coughed. "Yako- chan, I'm glad to see that you have woken up. I'll notify the doctors to check up on you right away. Nougami-san, I would have to ask you to leave . Yako chan will need to go under rigorous exams now that she's awake. Should I check in Shinobu san to the hospital as well? He seems to be most....unwell."

.

....And that is how Yako managed to cheat death- once again.

.

* * *

I know it's a bit shorther than the other chapters but this chapter is serving more of a bridge than anything else. It was great fun to write. Ah, revenge is sweet. And for those of you who haven't had enough of Yako owning Neuro, don't worry- you'll be seeing a lot more of it.

Again, please review! I appreciate them very much and need feedback for future chapters. Any suggestions, ideas, comments are welcome. Please don't hesitate to provide your input. I would love to hear how you wish the story to go. Cheers! Until the next chapter!


End file.
